Go back to to the regular timetable or to the Live Timetable. To facilitate fitting in the timetable co-presenters are not listed here. Posters sessions are in the reception area.
Reading with Video in the Differentiated Classroom - The Multiple Entry Point approach
paper
Howard Gardner proposed a theory of multiple intelligences (MI) according to which learners vary in intelligence across a combination of seven or eight different areas. He acknowledges that a high student-teacher ratio in a classroom using a single textbook can present a challenge for any teacher attempting to individualise instruction and meet the diverse needs of students. Therefore, he recommends that teachers should structure their presentation of material in a variety of ways so as to help students achieve understanding and initiate learning, a multiple entry point approach. He suggests that a skilled teacher can open a number of different windows on the same concept to contribute towards student understanding. Accordingly, students must be provided with opportunities to put their comprehension into practice. This indicates that teachers’ instruction should focus on how to draw on students’ interests and strengths to carry out their school task. This project introduces four entry points: the aesthetic, the narrative, the logical and the experiential and provides an indication of why videos offer a powerful means of exploiting each of these entry points. It will discuss a lesson plan incorporating an example video, outlining the context within the technology and how teaching instruction can be inspired by the entry point approach (a term which refers to utilizing student strengths to learn and understand academic content). Each entry point activity, connected to related intelligences, is illustrated. This project is expected as a demonstration of teaching reading with video resources using the multiple entry point approach.
Towards a Better Blend: A Case Study of Effective Intergration and Improvement of e-Learning in One Australian School
show-and-tell
In the past 5 years, many schools around the world have been rushing to introduce technological devices in the hope of developing an e-learning environment, particularly for blended learning. In some cases, this has happened at a pace greater than the desires of the staff, leading to negative attitudes and ill-prepared implementation. In 2013, Brisbane Grammar School in Australia created the Blended Learning Design Research Team to develop a framework for teachers to complete a successful transition from their current traditional pedagogy to a new pedagogy based on e-learning tools and systems.
This presentation first will outline the formation of the team and the goals and expectations of the staff. It will then focus predominantly on experimentation with various software and the feedback received from students, and in the process introduce the participants to a plethora of tools. The outcomes of the team's efforts will be discussed as well as an update on the current state of use. Even though the information and data was retrieved from a high school context, it will be useful to any institution that utilizes, or wishes to utilize, a technology-supported environment.
Two Differing Spotlights on Bilingual Acquisition/attrition Research - Brain-Imaging and Linguistic Data Analysis
paper
A highly proficient Japanese-English bilingual was tracked over the 3 years after her return to Japan from a 15-year-long sojourn in the USA. Both linguistic data (spontaneously spoken and written English) and neurolinguistic data (verbal fluency tasks in Japanese and English, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, fNIRS) were collected four times: (1) 3 months after returning to Japan (INC 0.03) as the baseline, (2) one later (INC 1.03), (3) two years later (INC 2.02), and (4) three years later (INC 3.01). The linguistic analysis revealed mixed results – there was some maintenance/improvement in English writing but a deterioration in oral fluency. The fNIRS analysis disclosed a fluctuating nature in Oxy-Hb both in Japanese and English. Discussion synthesising both the linguistic and fNIRS data is attempted in this presentation.
In this Show and Tell session, the presenter will introduce a news website and app called Newslea and will share experiences using the resource in a general academic English course for lower-intermediate students at a Hong Kong tertiary institution. This US-based resource (with Common Core references for grades K-12) comes in a free and a paid version. Students can use the resource freely, but teachers must pay a subscription to take advantage of the options to assign and track class groups and individual students –in texts folders, writing tasks, and quiz scores. Using the Common Core standards, readings focus on "central ideas," "word meanings and choice," "text structure," "arguments and claims," and other reading tasks. An interesting feature for students is the option to easily adjust the reading level: Max, 960L, 840L, 690L, and 580L. While Newslea's intended audience is mainly native English speakers, the reading level options can be quite useful for English as a second or foreign language learners. The presenter will sum up by sharing some of the benefits and challenges of using Newslea, especially as it compares to other free reading websites and apps.
Wearable Technology in Foreign Language Education: Integrating Google Glass into Task-Based Language Instruction (TBLI)
show-and-tell
Today, various types of wearable devices such as bracelets, clothing, watches, and glasses are used not only in our daily life but also in medical centers, libraries and universities (Sapargliyev, 2015). This presentation will show and tell how one of the recent wearable devices – Google Glass – can be used in ESL/EFL contexts through audio-visual examples. First, it will explore some characteristics and issues pertaining to Google Glass (e.g., privacy, mistrust, distractions). Second, it will discuss how it can be creatively and effectively integrated in the ESL/EFL contexts in the forms of blended-learning, simulation, and hands-free learning. Third, it will highlight the nature and pedagogical advantages of Task-Based Language Instruction (TBLI), an approach to teaching a foreign language that seeks to engage learners in interactionally authentic language use by having them perform a series of tasks (Ellis, 2003). Fourth, drawing on key ideas in TBLI (e.g., experiential learning, learner-centered, authentic tasks), some task examples (e.g., buying groceries, finding a street destination) will be demonstrated. Finally, both pedagogical and SLA research implications will be provided before Q&A discussion. It will also look at how Google Glass-embedded TBLI can promote L2 students’ engagement and learning from a neurological perspective (e.g., both left and right-hemispheric participation).
The Neuroscience of Language and a CALL Application: Part 1
show-and-tell
In the first half of this two-part presentation, we will look at the neuroscience of language processing. In the second half we will look at a CALL application that takes advantage of this process.
Our brains are prediction machines, and in order to be so, they are very good at finding patterns and using them to make simplistic models of the world. Our brains take incoming sensory information and match it to these simplistic models and thereby figure out what it is. This process of recognition must be fast, so our brains start predicting what the input represents even before it is all there. You see a stick in the grass and at first sight jump because your brain matches the first incomplete wave of visual input to the snake model, even though further input allows you to correctly identify it as a stick.
Language works this way too. Language is a huge compilation of models, and we use these models to predict meaning even before an utterance is completed. Therefore, we rely on set patterns for our linguistic “moves.” This is especially true for language genres used to express complex ideas with specificity and clarity, such as academic writing. Certain archetypical word patterns, called lexical bundles, are highly constricted in when and how they are used.
Therefore, it was possible to make a prototype web-based academic writing support tool, based on corpus studies of applied linguistics research, that predicts and suggests appropriate lexical bundles to struggling novices.
In this workshop, the presenter will introduce a free cross-platform digital portfolio application called Moxtra, which allows for both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration. Participants will create and share their own digital binders for storing various documents and learn how to annotate using a digital pen, text and voice tags as well as chat by way of text message, voice and video. Participants will also learn how to create a private and secure social network for both teachers and students. Lastly, the presenter will give concrete examples of how Moxtra can help to both enhance and transform language learning both inside and outside the classroom.
Autonomy Through Flipping Video Content with Student-lead Classroom Discussion
show-and-tell
We leverage technology by “flipping” a language class; introducing video-based language content outside the class and using that content as a base for in-class student-lead discussion. This method aims to achieve the delicate balance of increasing autonomy while focusing on language development by controlling the range of activities. We cover the “what, why and how” by sampling activities, videos of student interaction, technology of Google Drive and Moodle, as well as student feedback on the process.
Using Technology to Innovate and Advance PhD programs: A Critical Reflection
paper
As university graduate programs around the world continue to compete for quality students, technology is often used by these programs to both appeal to potential students and to show that they are committed to offering the best program possible. This creativity is an important factor driving innovation in Ph.D. programs. However, in their rush to embrace technology and appear innovative with program design and student learning support, administrations may be misguided in their CALL (Computer Asisted Lenguage Learning) investments. Despite proactive intentions, they may still not achieve their original purpose – to facilitate an improvement in the delivery of target content, to show a measurable improvement in language ability, to foster more effective student/instructor communication, or to create an overall more collaborative learning environment.
Programs in Japan are no different. One of the most common approaches to increasing a program’s appeal among potential candidates, and to improve learning outcomes, is to integrate cutting-edge technologies. In our program, the “BB9” learning management platform was used for communicating and sharing academic content, an e-portfolio system functioned as an active, growing record of learner achievement, and the “Scopia” teleconferencing system was used to allow for instructor/student, and student/student remote interaction. A number of CALL specific programs were also used to promote individualized learning, collaboration activities, and instructor-supported, personalized speaking practice.
This study takes a critical analysis approach to the use of the above-mentioned learning platform and CALL applications with regards to English education in a mixed-level, mixed-language, mixed-cultural group within a graduate studies program, at a national university in Japan. Using survey data compiled from student, instructor, and administrator feedback, as well as interviews that looked at the motivations for acquiring these platforms, a reflective analysis of the effectiveness of these technologies was carried out. Key target comparisons were made between the initial perceived needs and benefits versus the actual needs and benefits as identified in the survey feedback.
This presentation will begin with a background on Japanese graduate programs delivered in English and the need for English language education within those programs. I will then give a brief overview of one specific graduate program at a national university, the international make-up of the student body, and its approach to English language education. The presentation will then discuss why a specific learning platform and certain CALL-oriented applications were chosen and how they are currently used within the program. These initial factors will then be contrasted against the pros and cons of the technologies as identified by students, instructors, and administrators. Following these considerations, the presentation will wrap up with a discussion about how this learning platform and the CALL applications within an international graduate program are both effective and how they might be even more efficiently utilized for course content and English language instruction as well as more smoothly integrated into the university network at large.
Quizlet, a now very well-known and established e-learning, digital flashcard tool is used extensively in our field of education. Many emerging educational software programmes are providing links to Quizlet and its user-friendly interface thanks to its increasing popularity the past 2 years. However, what do the students think of Quizlet and its digital flashcard format? Do they prefer it to more traditional methods of learning vocabulary? And perhaps more importantly, is it effective? This empirical study will introduce two batches of qualitative data obtained over a two-year time span from April 2013, to January 2015. During this time, students were introduced to Quizlet and encouraged to use it extensively in and out of class. After a two-semester academic year, qualitative data was obtained in the final week of term using a survey conducted online with surveymonkey. A qualitative data analysis tool called “wordminer” was used in this research study. WordMiner (1.5) is an award wining text-mining tool that analyses large volumes of qualitative data results and highlights words or expressions used repeatedly, categorising them into clusters. Empirical data in the form of numeric quantitative data can be difficult to draw conclusions from with regards to latent constructs. However, qualitative data can provide the researcher with a more concrete insight into students’ actual opinions and are therefore easier to analyse. This presentation will be of interest to anyone planning to, or with previous experience in using Quizlet, or other digital flashcard tools in their teaching toolkit.
Delivering Immediate Feedback and Fostering Better Interaction in EFL Classrooms
workshop
ICT tools used in our classrooms should have the potential to extend students’ frontiers and foster life-long learning. This workshop will therefore situate the use of ICT within a pedagogical framework that employs such an approach.
Programs and applications from several commercial applications will briefly be discussed, and the Google Education Suite will be discussed at greater length and used with an aim to developing a more learner-centered, interactive classroom environment where students are encouraged to play a more dynamic role in their learning experience. We also consider the role of feedback in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction and said technologies that allow teachers to communicate directly with every student in their class in real time to solicit input, provide feedback, and promote interaction.
Concretely, we will discuss the use of Google Docs, Sheets & Slides, as well as Google Forms. Participants will learn how to coordinate such communication across students’ multiple devices.
Outcomes of the workshop should include (1) Immediate knowledge of how to apply the Google Education Suite varied educational settings; (2) Awareness of learner-centered pedagogical practices and how to implement them.
Hardwire Happiness + Power Poses: ELT, Psych & Sci
workshop
Research indicates happy students learn more, practice longer and approach tasks with enthusiasm (Oishi, et al., 2007). This session introduces two fluency activities with clear language objectives that are informed by positive psychology and brain science. Seligman’s (2011) model, PERMA (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaningfulness, Achievement) moves positive psychology beyond "happiness" toward a holistic model of well-being. Hardwire Happiness, based on Hanson (2013), allows the learner to choose and mentally recycle – savor (Bryant & Veroff, 2007) — a positive experience in format friendly to Csikszentmihalyi’s "Flow" (1997). The task involves a multi-sensory re-experiencing of a positive event in a format similar to Nation’s (1989) well-known 4/3/2 activity. The task-repetition aspect encourages both linguistic fluency and increased "myelination" (neurons “firing/wiring together through reuse of circuits). Power Poses, proposed by Carney, et al. (2010) and popularized by Cuddy (2012, 2016) combines grammar-focused student-to-student TPR with "linguistic self-distancing" self-talk (Kross, 2014). The self-distancing includes changing the self-talk to the second and third person which research indicates strengthens the message. This is done in a way which avoids the ironic negatives sometimes related to "positive self-talk. " Some people who lack self-confidence, when encouraged to repeat affirmations such as "I am a good person” actually process them in ways the decrease confidence (“I don’t think ‘I am a good person’ and now I’m a liar, too. ") (Wood, 2009). This activity includes learner choice, a key to brain-friendly learning (Rock, 2009; Schwartz, 2004).
Effectively Integrating Facebook into a Flipped EFL Classroom in Japan
paper
This study focused on examining the use of Facebook to show the effectiveness of a blended- and flipped-learning environment. Facebook was actively used in exchanging information and learning materials with the digital textbook “Lecture Ready III”. Students were actively engaged in flipped learning and were administered a variety of computer assessment tests such as CASEC, OPIc Speaking Test, and TOEIC. The study was carried out from April 2015 to January 2016, and targeted 24 Japanese undergraduates who were extensively engaged in flipped learning tasks using mobile technologies for the purpose of improving their English language proficiency. The flipped tasks included the following: 1) writing 10 summaries of TED Talks and Lecture Ready III lectures, including short PPT presentations, 2) making a creative English movie, and 3) creating English presentations based on the Horizon Report 2015. Before coming to class, all the presentation materials were shared by uploading them to Facebook, and then the students mainly engaged in oral presentations and discussions during the class. The overall results of the 2015 study (n=24) indicated that the flipped lessons helped the students to improve their overall English proficiency over the 10-month period from a mean CASEC score of 626.3 (SD: 88.4) to 720.5 (SD: 63.2). Additional test results and detailed information will be presented in this talk.
An introduction to ‘Organic Learning’ using iPads in High School English Classes
sponsored
The learning environment of students has not changed much over the years. Although society is shifting from a mechanistic to organic organizational structure, teaching styles have remained the same, creating a perfect hierarchy based on test scores. However, this is not without problems as a large number of students leave school unable to fit into the system. In this presentation, I will introduce Organic Learning, which enables students to learn ‘organically’ through project-based and authentic learning using iPads, and discuss ways to enhance student motivation, interest, engagement, independence, creativity and co-operation. This presentation will feature examples from the Q: Skills for Success series.
Bio:
Born in the 1970’s, the start of an era of control-oriented education, school was not where Yuh found her place. Her love of learning was toward small hands-on research, such as using a microscope, handcrafts, electronic crafts and reading. At the age of 16, she spent six months studying abroad in America, where she discovered her ideal learning style, project-based learning. After graduating from Osaka University of Foreign Studies, she has been teaching English at Kindai Junior & Senior High School for 20 years. Her vision is for a society where each individual uses their unique disposition and abilities and is in control of the life they lead. She established ‘Organic Learning’ in 2015 and launched seminars and webinars to people outside the school organization. She is an Apple Distinguished Educator and enjoys using iPads and Q: Skills for success for her high school classes.
The Meeting of Minds: Early Childhood Education, English, and Play
paper
Play is a powerful tool for children – and community college students – to explore, experiment, experience and understand the world around them. In this session, the presenters will share their experiences with play in their content areas. First, an Early Childhood Education lecturer will give a brief overview of a Hong Kong community college program preparing future kindergarten teachers and a short summary of how children actively learn through play as noted through centuries by theorists such as Locke, Piaget, and Vygotsky. Next, an English lecturer will give examples of how the concept of "play" was adapted to language learning activities using drama (e.g., Readers Theatre), open-ended materials (e.g., Play-doh, pipe cleaners, construction paper), and online resources (e.g., Kahoot!, Socrative). The session will conclude with reflections on the success of adapting Early Childhood Education principles of play to English classes in which teachers – as observers, facilitators, and players - plan and set up physical environments for students to engage in exploring, experimenting, and experiencing with adequate, age-appropriate, and open materials.
Students’ Emotions, Attitudes, and Opinions toward the Use of Digital Leaderboards
paper
Many language learning activities that are based around digital platforms (e.g., English Central, MReader) allow teachers to easily leverage the gamification component of leaderboards to influence their students in various ways. After giving a brief introduction to gamification in education, this presentation will explore data collected in relation to students’ emotions, attitudes, and opinions toward the use of leaderboards in their EFL classrooms. Using a survey, data were collected (N = 121) from students at a Japanese university at the end of a semester in which the teacher had each week shown the students their English Central and/or MReader leaderboard ranking in comparison to their classmates. The mixed-method data collected provides an interesting insight into how leaderboards affect different students in different ways. The presenter will also discuss the direction he plans to take his gamification related research in the future. Comments and discussion from the audience would be welcomed, especially from anyone interested in researching educational gamification.
This presentation will introduce an open source computer-based assessment tool for spoken English which is currently being developed by the presenter. The assessment tool is available as a plug-in for the popular Moodle course management system, and makes use of Google’s Web Speech API to record, transcribe and evaluate spoken English. Examples of oral assessment tasks can include a spoken response elicited by a question, a sentence dictation, or an oral summary of a story. Scoring of the recorded responses can either be performed automatically using a text analysis algorithm or manually by the instructor. The presenter will demonstrate how to use this assessment tool to create, administer and automatically score computer-based speaking assignments.
The Neuroscience of Language and a CALL Application: Part 2
show-and-tell
In the first half of this two-part presentation, we will look at the neuroscience of language processing. In the second half we will look at a CALL application that takes advantage of this process.
Our brains are prediction machines, and in order to be so, they are very good at finding patterns and using them to make simplistic models of the world. Our brains take incoming sensory information and match it to these simplistic models and thereby figure out what it is. This process of recognition must be fast, so our brains start predicting what the input represents even before it is all there. You see a stick in the grass and at first sight jump because your brain matches the first incomplete wave of visual input it the snake model, even though further input allows you to correctly identify it as a stick.
Language works this way too. Language is a huge compilation of models, and we use these models to predict meaning even before an utterance is completed. Therefore, we rely on set patterns for our linguistic “moves.” This is especially true for language genres used to express complex ideas with specificity and clarity, such as academic writing. Certain archetypical word patterns, called lexical bundles, are highly constricted in when and how they are used.
Therefore, it was possible to make a prototype web-based academic writing support tool, based on corpus studies of applied linguistics research, that predicts and suggests appropriate lexical bundles to struggling novices.
Whether you need to extend the contact hours you have with your students, make homework a more meaningful exercise, or want deeper insight into the areas in which your students need more practice, MyEnglishLab is the solution. Also, when your students are using MyEnglishLab, you instantly have access to a wide range of useful diagnostic tools. The information that these tools provide ensures that valuable classroom time is spent on activities that meet the real needs of your students. This presentation will explain how to leverage MyEnglishLab effectively for your class management.
Tools to Help with Writing, Grading, and Analysing Online Tests
show-and-tell
Literature on the "testing effect” suggests that repeated testing can be as (or more) helpful for long-term retention than repeated studying. A quiz is also sometimes the only way to find out whether students are learning what is being taught. However, a good test takes time to properly write, administer, grade, and analyse. This show-and-tell looks at two tools created by the presenter to make the process easier. The first tool helps teachers automatically grade multiple choice items on quizzes created using Google Forms. As such, there will first be an overview of how Forms can be used to create quizzes, including some useful options/add-ons the audience should be aware of. While similar auto-grading software already exists (e.g. “Flubaroo”), the tool described here also helps teachers improve their quiz writing by giving information on item facility, item differentiation, and distractors. The second tool is an implementation of Markdown which adds an option for quickly inserting self-marking, multiple-choice quizzes into worksheets which can then be shared via a website or Dropbox. This second tool was created to facilitate “flipping” some aspects of EAP courses, by having students learn at their own pace at home, and check their understanding before coming to class.
Digital Flashcards: Updates and Improvements to Quizlet, Anki, Supermemo and Cram
workshop
Quizlet, first released in 2007 is one of many digital flashcard tools available online. Ever since its first release 9 years ago, Quizlet has progressed exponentially. Now with over 100 million users worldwide it is by far the most used and well known of all similar Internet tools. Just like many online educational tools on the market, Quizlet has seen a transformation in its interface as it continually improves and develops its functionality according to users requests. The test function, flashcard tool, word repetition and a newly updated iPhone and soon-to-be-released Android mobile app, are now better than ever and far easier to use. Quizlet has also recently introduced spaced repetition into its programme through popular demand. Earlier this year (2016) Quizlet introduced several fully functional and innovative updates including a group activity called ‘Quizlet Live’ that lets students work and compete in teams with the same word list. This workshop will show teachers how to use each of these recent updates and how to successfully integrate Quizlet into your class. It will also provide demonstrations of similar digital flashcard tools like Anki, Supermemo and Cram letting you the audience decide which one is best. This workshop should highlight the do’s and don’ts of making digital flashcards play a permanent role in every future class you design. Please come to this practical, hands-on workshop if you would like to make your classes more collaborative and innovative by introducing the optimum digital flashcard tool available today.
Learner Cooperation in Software-based Presentations
paper
The presentation will describe a task-based project in a required oral communication course at a Japanese university involving authentic, communicative use of presentation software in a cooperative way to help with learner engagement and lead to deeper and multiple skills development. As part of regular coursework, students were asked to work in groups to research, evaluate, and learn how to use the free version of one online presentation software application per group. As a group, the students then had to use the application to create a presentation that included both a critical evaluation and a demonstration of the software. New groups were then created with one member from each of the original groups. The individual students then made presentations to their new groups, using the common slides and outline created in their original group. Finally, the students were asked to submit written reflections on their own presentation, on the other software they were exposed to, and on the process as a whole. The presentation will describe the process, present learner reactions to both the software and the approach, and provide the reflections of the instructor-author. The description and reflection will be given further context by briefly referencing task-based learning, task design, and a taxonomy of uses of technologies for learning. It is expected that the descriptions and analysis of this project can aid and inspire other practitioners in similar settings and situations.
Seven Ways to Enhance English Lessons with Free Quiz Tools
show-and-tell
Not so long ago tests were all paper-based and teachers spent hours calculating scores. While some still use this method, others have moved tests online, using tools such as Socrative and Google Forms. These tools not only save time and paper, they can also offer students immediate feedback and let teachers know which points to re-examine before a lesson ends. These days, quiz tools have many in-built functions that can be used to fulfil a range of pedagogical needs so they offer more than just a testing platform. This presentation introduces seven tasks that the presenter used Socrative for in university-level English courses. It will demonstrate how it was used for getting-to-know you surveys, brainstorming, comprehension checking, paraphrasing activities, essay extract sharing, end-of-class reflections, and anonymous questions from students. Survey data, informal student feedback, and the presenter’s own observations and insights will be used to show why these seven usages are worth sharing with other educators. Survey results from 50 students who used Socrative in their EFL academic writing classes indicated that the vast majority found it easy to use, enjoyed using it, and felt it aided their English studies (Ohashi, 2015), so it will be used for demonstration purposes in this presentation. However, most of the ideas could also be applied to other quiz platforms, so please join regardless of your preferred software. Both questions and suggestions of innovative ways to use quiz tools are welcome from the audience, so novices and experts alike are encouraged to attend.
Gamification is "the use of game design elements in non-game contexts” (Deterding, Dixon, Khaled & Nacke, 2011). It is a method of engaging people, motivating action and enhancing learning (de Sousa Borges, Durelli, Reis & Isotani, 2014), through increased engagement (Sheldon, 2011). This presentation will consider gamification in education, and evaluate a free online tool called Boomwriter which is designed to enhance writing, reading, vocabulary, and peer assessment skills. A five-week trial of Boomwriter as a method of gamifying intermediate-level freshman writing assignments will be summarised, and student feedback of the experience discussed.
A Case Study of Videoconferencing-Embedded Flipped Classroom (VEFC) in Japan’s EFL Context
paper
English Language Teaching (ELT) has been significantly transformed due to the globalization. Although instruction of teaching English as an International Language (EIL) has received a lot of attention around the world, ELT pedagogy has not always kept pace with the current realities. For example, in Japan the teacher-centered instruction is the most common practice focusing on one particular variety of English (e.g., American English). The purpose of this paper is two-fold: First, it aims to report on the use of the Videoconferencing-Embedded Flipped Class (VEFC) model in the Japanese EFL context to allow pedagogically sound interaction between students in Japan and ELT scholars from overseas (e,g., USA, Brazil, or Indonesia). Second, it also discusses how implementing VEFC model improved the students’ EIL awareness, communicative skills, and motivation based on multiple data apparatus (i.e., the term-end paper submission, student-led oral presentation, course evaluation and the questionnaire).
This presentation will cover four parts. First, it introduces the current challenges of ELT in Japan. Second, it covers the VEFC model as a pedagogical solution including its general descriptions. Third, it illustrates the four stages of the VEFC model with an example of lesson plan: 1) out-of-class asynchronous task “connect with ELT scholars”, 2) in-class synchronous task “interact with ELT scholars”, 3) out-of-class asynchronous task “engage in reflect journals”, and 4) in-class synchronous task “collaborate to make a group presentation.” Finally, it presents its pedagogical success and limitations based on the data (N=30) collected in spring 2015.
Integrating Academic Content and Technology in EFL Lessons
show-and-tell
Depending on the goals of the educational institution, language teachers sometimes find themselves in a position of having to incorporate both academic content (e.g. business, medicine, law) and technology in their lessons. Yet, some teachers are left in doubt regarding how much content and technology should be introduced within the lesson, and also how to introduce it. This presentation discusses some of the issues and challenges involved in integrating content and technology within EFL lessons. It highlights the need to balance and maintain three important variables for learning: language as a tool to enhance communication, content as a tool to enhance knowledge, and technology as a tool to enhance learning.
Three Ways to Spark Your Students’ Creativity Using Web-based Quizzes
show-and-tell
Creativity is acknowledged by many as a key ingredient of the learning process. Sir Kenneth Robinson (2001), a world-renowned leading authority on educational practice, said that the role of educators is not only to improve academic skills such as reading and writing, but also to develop innovation and creativity. New ways of fostering creativity in the CALL classroom are continually emerging. One such development is 'Kahoot!', a free, blended-learning, game-based app which allows users to create and administer web-based interactive quizzes, discussions and surveys. The platform interface is both intuitive and engaging, and those with even basic computer literacy can easily create their own quizzes which can include text, images, videos and sound. The presenter will explain how the app formed an integral component of an English academic writing program at a large university in Japan. For example, the web-based quizzes were used during pre-task stages to activate learners’ interest and existing knowledge surrounding a particular topic. Quizzes were also used post-task to recycle material already covered in class. Furthermore, small groups collaborated to produce their own quiz, subsequently taken by the whole class. Specific examples of students’ project work from this course will be used to demonstrate how student creativity, collaboration and engagement were facilitated using this app. The presenter will show how this platform may be used as a central course component, and also offer practical instruction on how to create and administer quizzes using the app.
This session will outline the benefits of using mobile apps along with contextualized video for language learning.
Teachers will learn how to extend their curriculum and provide students with the benefits of mobile learning. The session will highlight best practices for mobile learning and review engagement metrics from over 150,000 EnglishCentral learners who have used EnglishCentral’s latest mobile application.
EnglishCentral combines a library of over 10,000 interactive video lessons and courses with a time interval vocabulary learning and speaking feedback system. Teachers who attend this session will receive a complimentary 1-month access code to try the EnglishCentral Service (web and mobile access) with a class of up to 100 students.
For more information visit: www.englishcentral.com/academic.
As the most popular social media service (SNS) in Japan, LINE has the potential to become a valuable pedagogical tool. This is especially pertinent given two trends in education: the increasing delivery of courses via online platforms and the growing body of research promoting the efficacy of technology to enhance language learning. This presentation will center on ongoing research by the presenter on the potential for using LINE to create an effective blended learning environment. Specifically, the presentation will focus on how LINE can supplement or replace traditional learning management systems (LMSs). The presentation will examine the aforementioned trends in education, as well as advantages and disadvantages to using existing SNSs over LMSs, with a specific focus on LINE. The presenter will look at how LINE was used over the course of one semester for classroom management, to facilitate class discussion, to increase students' inter-connectivity with English, and to create interactive activities using pictures and video. The results of a student survey comparing their own engagement with LINE and the Moodle LMS will be discussed, as well as other practical applications of this technology in the English classroom. Educators should walk away from this presentation with some concrete ideas they can put to immediate use in their classroom, as well as some helpful pointers on how to manage problems that may arise in using SNSs in the classroom.
A Beginner's Guide to Corpus Linguistics for Language Teachers
show-and-tell
Corpus linguistics has become a popular method for analysing and studying naturally occurring language with web-based or specialised computer programs. Language teachers can search a corpus for examples of "collocations" or sequences of words that co-occur together. These examples can be displayed for research purposes or to provide useful examples of language in use to students. An important aspect of the corpus-based approach is the ability to quantify the patterns of how words are associated with each other and to rank the collocations in order of use. Thus, important vocabulary patterns can be taught if they are frequently used in naturally occurring texts. Moreover, these popular patterns of words can be explained by showing real examples that are used in books, newspapers, magazines and other types of publications. The ability to quickly search for examples of vocabulary patterns is an added advantage for teachers in a classroom who want to demonstrate examples to students or who are preparing tests with certain lexical or grammatical patterns. What is a corpus? Why is it useful? What types of corpora are there? What kind of software can I use to build my own corpus? The presenter will introduce the concept of corpus linguistics, how it is used in language teaching and research and how language learners can improve their study of the language with these tools.
Journaling Offline or Online for Extensive Writing – Which Do Students Prefer?
show-and-tell
Extensive writing is doing a large amount of regular free writing on a range of topics and styles, focusing less on accuracy and more on fluency. Today there are many online options for students to practice their writing that have the additional benefit of developing basic computer and typing skills. In a first-year Japanese university EFL writing course, students wrote short journal entries up to five times a week for the duration of one semester as a form of extensive writing. The goal was to increase fluency and writing speed, and get students into the habit of writing regularly on a range of simple topics in preparation for much more challenging future writing assignments in their program. In the first half of the term, students wrote on paper, submitting their collections several times for evaluation. During the latter part of the semester, students switched to an online option. The hope was that this would help improve their computer and typing skills, much needed for survival in their program. Penzu (outlined in the presentation), a free online platform designed specifically for journaling, was chosen as the tool. All journal entries were evaluated almost entirely on quantity and frequency and were not corrected. At the end of the semester students were surveyed on their opinions regarding their experiences journaling both offline and online. Overall more than 50% of students surveyed preferred the online option and even more thought it was useful for developing their typing and basic computer skills.
Apps4EFL.com: Creative Commons Data & Web 2.0 Technologies for EFL
Poster
Apps4EFL.com utilizes Creative Commons data and open web technologies to facilitate engaging online study for learners of EFL/ESL. The site is wholly devised and developed by the presenter. A wide range of online resources are licensed under Creative Commons (creativecommons.org) terms, which allow you to use, modify and distribute the data freely. The various Wikipedias are well known examples of Creative Commons data. Open web technologies include markup languages, such as HTML 5, and scripting languages, such as JavaScript, along with the various APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) made available to web developers, such as the Web Speech API.
The site features: integrated access to over 5 million Wikipedia articles, almost 100 million Quizlet flashcards, and almost 340,000 example sentences; automatically generated cloze tests and vocabulary matching tests; text-to-speech (TTS) and automatic speech recognition (ASR) activities; quizzes and interactive transcripts for YouTube videos; and real time chat and vocabulary learning games. Apps 4 EFL also provides comprehensive student management and tracking tools for teachers. The presenter will be demonstrating how to implement the site in various teaching contexts, and will be taking suggestions for improvements and additional resources or activities.
Assessment, Technology and Language Learning in Higher Education: Issues and Trends
Poster
In this poster presentation various issues and trends that link assessment, technology and language learning in higher education are examined. Firstly, by way of background, different ways in which digital technology can be used for language learning are described. These include the use of digital textbooks, blended learning spaces and virtual classrooms. Then, after defining assessment, three key trends that link assessment and technology in language learning and higher education are identified: 1) the use of automated systems to enhance traditional assessment practices, particularly for pronunciation, writing and vocabulary development; 2) the use of Web 2.0 tools to facilitate new assessment practices including the assessment of communicative competence and the use of e-portfolios; and, 3) the necessity for teachers to assess new skills and content areas in language learning which are a consequence of the rise in the use of technology. These principally focus on the creation of collaborative digital projects which necessitate ways to measure student collaboration and participation and highlight issues of academic integrity such as plagiarism and privacy. The poster concludes by pointing out that there is a need for language teachers to become more technologically fluent but that they also need to carefully examine claims made for technology, learning and assessment.
The PhraseBot app allows for paired associate learning in various modes with data imported from the Quizlet flashcard website. It complements the study modes that Quizet offers by tracking progress and providing mobile-convenient game-like input methods that require a productive level of knowledge (not multiple choice). It can be used for vocabulary (single words or multi-word units), or for complete sentences. More details, pictures and an online version of the quiz game can be seen at the www.phrasebotapp.com website.
Accountable homework can be assigned by setting a target goal for points to be scored within a given period (e.g. 1500 pts per week), and having students submit a screenshot by email which displays their points. By following a simple naming convention for the email subject heading, this process acts as a convenient 'hack' for the teacher to set and monitor independent language study. Since the target goal is based on points, students can have the autonomy to choose which type of lists and practice to do, which is beneficial in assigning homework to groups of mixed-level students.
This poster presentation will give an overview of the app and its functions, how it has been used with university classes for assigning independent lexical and grammatical practice, and an analysis of quantitative and qualitative data collected. Data collected showed that students used the app significantly more than required, and survey results indicated that students found the app both useful and enjoyable, and were keen to continue using the app the following semester.
eLearning with eBooks: A powerful resource for the flipped classroom
Poster
Using eBooks as a component of an eLearning program is a powerful resource to support students’ self-learning, including flipped classrooms. Students can study at their own pace and have answers available through text data, sound and video clips. Additionally, the administrator is able to check the students’ performances regarding the amount of time studied and in what sections errors occurred. Once all the data is installed in the eBooks, they can be automatically uploaded into the Apple iBooks Store free of charge and downloaded in more than 50 countries without any system adjustment.
The presenters focus on the nature of eBooks, how their use can be applied to a real study environment and how students can work with their teachers to create eBooks utilizing their own data and based on their interests and abilities. As part of an eLearning program, the presenters and their students have created eBooks using “iBooks Author” from Apple. Many of the eBooks created consist of photographs taken by the students who then write a brief explanation of the photograph in both Japanese and English. The presenters/teachers use these explanations to make quizzes by utilizing an LMS (Learning Management System). These quizzes are included in the evaluation of the students’ performance. Examples of the eBooks will be shown. By allowing students to create eBooks using their own data and including the finished product in class assessment, eBooks have the potential to become an integral and effective part of a language learning program.
Gender and game-based learning: A review of recent literature
Poster
An increasing amount of research is being conducted into game-based learning (GBL), as researchers and educators begin to see the benefits of GBL and how it can engage learners in comparison to traditional teaching methodologies. However, there has been some debate in the GBL field that certain sub-groups can be at a disadvantage as their lack of familiarity of gameplay mechanics means that these sub-groups focus more on understanding the game then interaction with peers in the target language. This poster presentation will explore the gender related issues in GBL and will contrast how sub-groups males and females are viewed in GBL literature. The presenter will review GBL literature from the early 2000s until the present day highlighting the narrative of gender during this time. The poster will show that while there is a general idea that females play games less than males, and have been reported to be one of the disadvantaged sub-groups, that this line of thinking is empirically incorrect. The presenter will show that at present there is a lack of solid evidence to come to any conclusion on this subject and that as with GBL studies in general, more evidence is needed. The presenter hopes that this poster will be a starting point for a discussion on the subject of gender and GBL that can move beyond some of the stereotypical views of male and females and digital games.
Pre-teaching Vocabulary with Corpus Analysis Tools
Poster
Depending on the type of reading being undertaken, learners reading in a foreign language need to know 90-98% of words in a text in order to avoid discouragement and frustration. A pre-reading activity such as pre-teaching vocabulary can help learners reach the minimum vocabulary threshold that is needed to comprehend and/or enjoy reading a particular text. However, decisions about which words to pre-teach before reading a text are often left up to the intuition and educated guessing of instructors. This may lead to needed vocabulary going un-learned, and known vocabulary being redundantly studied. This poster presentation will describe a pre-reading activity using corpus analysis tools that allows instructors and learners to simply, quickly, and accurately identify vocabulary in a specific text that is unknown to learners. The poster will illustrate a step-by-step process of a) how digital formats of texts can be analyzed using corpus analysis tools for headwords and their frequencies; b) how instructors (or learners) can then prepare simple vocabulary lists that learners can use to indicate which headwords they do not know; c) how instructors and learners can then decide what vocabulary needs to be learned before reading, as well as avoid spending time on vocabulary items with which learners are already familiar. No expertise with corpus analysis tools on the part of the audience will be assumed.
Who's In Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain
Poster
Michael Gazzaniga was invited to the prestigious Gifford Lectures in 2009. His topic was "The Science of Mind Constraining Matter" which became the book "Who's In Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain". This poster/talk will present Gazzaniga's summary on what is known about the brain, followed by his thoughts on free will, mental causation, and ethics. His reasons for denying neurological determinism and even the validity of the term free will also be discussed.
Analyzing the Effectiveness of an eBook Project with iPads
show-and-tell
m-Learning has been gaining significant attention in addition to e-Learning as an independent or a blended learning style to motivate learners in school settings. iPad projects have been conducted in the past few years for first-year EFL classes of the English for General Academic Purposes program at a private university in western Japan. The main purposes were to let students experience a different learner-centered approach (LCA) and project-based learning (PBL) style while enhancing each student’s active participation in a small group, with the desire to improve their listening and speaking skills by using English more. During the academic year of 2013-14 the presenter tried iPad projects with iMovie. Students in two classes created their original and short promotional videos of Japanese snacks and drinks respectively in the middle of spring semester and fall semester. According to the results of the post-project questionnaires, most students were positive about such projects and expressed their joys to complete the project itself. Ten more iPads and an application called Book Creator that could create a multimedia eBook were purchased and used in the 2015 classes to challenge a new style of learning activity using pairs instead of small groups. The presenter will make the summary report of the projects highlighting how student engaged with the projects more than traditional classwork, discuss the pros and cons of PBL using iPads and applications, and make some useful suggestions to promote LCA based on his valuable experiences.
A Thematic Review on Context-Aware Ubiquitous Learning for Integration into Content-Based Language Instruction across Educational Levels
paper
Content-based language instruction (CBLI) has been widely-adopted in recent decades with the opportunities that it has offered for problem-based, inquiry-based, or collaborative learning. In the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL), instructors and researchers have combined sensor technology, augmented-reality, and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs with wireless networks to create context-aware ubiquitous learning (CAUL) environments across primary, secondary, and tertiary education levels in both first and second language (L1 and L2) settings. However, based on the latest literature review, a comprehensive review of CAUL studies for the purpose of improving CBLI has not been systematically conducted and published. With an aim to investigate the design, implementation, and assessment of CAUL in various disciplines across different L1 and L2 learning contexts, the researchers employed a keyword search strategy on the Web of Science (WOS) Database to collect relevant journal articles and narrowed down the selection to 31 articles through specific inclusion/exclusion criteria. Using constant comparisons techniques from Grounded Theory, four main themes emerged, including (a) learner development, (b) technological facilitation, (c) learning ecology, and (d) research evaluation. Synthesized results revealed general distinctions between compulsory and higher education sectors in terms of (a) geographical and temporal learning boundary, (b) cognitive demand and skill complexity, (c) flexibility with technological support, (d) user responses and behaviors, (e) degree of scaffolding, and (f) social interaction patterns. Finally, the study discussed intricate inter-relationships among the four main themes to create a design construct that integrates CAUL into CBLI.
Present, Record, and Reflect: Enhancing Japanese university students’ English-language presentation skills with mobile-video recordings
paper
In this presentation the researchers will discuss an action research project involving 129 first- and second-year English language learners enrolled in ‘Communication and Writing’ classes at a private Japanese university. The participants engaged in an exercise that utilized carousel poster presentation practice sessions in conjunction with self- and peer- reflective feedback facilitated by mobile-video recordings that were uploaded to a learning management system. Students completed a survey consisting of Likert-scale items, open-ended questions, and demographic questions. The open-ended questions queried the participants about the perceived advantages and disadvantages of using mobile-video to critically reflect on their presentation performances. In addition, a focus group was conducted with seven participants, purposefully recruited from one of the researcher’s second-year courses. The focus group session was led by one of the researchers in Japanese, while the other researchers acted as observers. An activity systems analysis helped uncover the tensions and systemic contradictions that exist in the participants’ English as a foreign language (EFL) presentation lessons. The results of this study indicated that mobile-video appeared to enhance the students’ presentation skills, and they perceived the use of these devices for presentation practice in a positive light. Nevertheless, the use of students’ mobile devices in any learning context can create potential cultural and privacy concerns. Based on these results, as well as the experience gained from this action research project, the researchers will provide a practical blueprint for EFL instructors to implement mobile-video recordings in their presentation classes.
Maximum Overdrive: The Past, Present and Future of Human/Machine Relations.
paper
'Who made who?' asked Brian Johnson in 1986, referring to man and machine. The question becomes increasingly pertinent, as Turkle (2012) voices concerns about the effects of artificial intelligence and mobile devices on the quality of our relationships with our fellow humans, and Selwyn (2014) calls our attention to the political, economic and ideological agendas which drive the adoption of educational technologies. At the same time, we are confronted by tabloid moral panics and dystopian science-fiction visions which overstate the dangers of technology. All too often, in the rush to embrace the new we forget the lessons of the past and make the same mistakes all over again. How do we navigate this maze?
Language learning is a social activity with a social aim, which can be greatly enhanced with creative use of technology. Learners today have greater opportunities than ever before to collaborate, create, and broaden their outlooks. However, less judicious uses of technology can be inefficient, invasive or inhibiting. In this presentation we will look back on the history and sociology of technology in order to reach a balanced view of what technology can offer us, whilst still retaining control of our own humanity.
Young, A, Young, M, Johnson, B.. (1986). Who made Who? [Recorded by AC/DC]. On Who Made Who [LP]. Australia: Albert Productions.
Selwyn, N. (2014). Distrusting educational technology: Critical questions for changing times. Routledge.
Turkle, S. (2012). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. Basic books.
Originating in the design and architecture community in Tokyo, Pecha Kucha is a style of Powerpoint presentation that limits speakers to 20 images displayed for exactly 20 seconds each. This may seem inappropriate in language classrooms, as setting limits on the amount of output is the opposite of what most teachers want to do. However, the restrictiveness of Pecha Kucha can actually provide a sense of freedom and inspire creativity at the same time as it solves many of the problems introduced when assigning traditional Powerpoint presentations. Typical Powerpoint presentations can easily push out language as the students’ main focus, causing an inordinate amount of class and homework time to be spent getting the slides “just right”. Also, students tend to use text on their slides as a way to take the focus off of their oration. Pecha Kucha places restrictions on the slideshow and returns the focus of formal presentations to the language being produced. The format allows the slideshow to assist language learning instead of co-opting it. But using Pecha Kucha in the language classroom is not as simple as asking students to copy the format. The leaders of this presentation will discuss how they modified Pecha Kucha in order to harness creativity in their EFL communication classrooms. They will elaborate on the rationale for diverting from the traditional Pecha Kucha format, introduce their worksheets and lesson plans, and discuss students’ reception and implementation of instruction.
This session starts with a design thinking team work challenge. Usually some teams fail to complete this task and those that do complete the challenge do not always score well. So in the post challenge period the processes of good design thinking using Critical, Creative, Lateral and Design Thinking approaches will be explained in reference to the challenge. A number of individual mini challenges that develop these types of thinking processes will then be given and individuals explore their own self set limitations as they complete these mini challenges. Then teams are reformed and the challenge repeated and attendees consider how they have changed their thinking from their first attempt. Finally we will have group discussions on how attendees can apply the lessons learned in tackling the problems they face in their daily lives.
Facilitating Research with Instant Messenger Cooperative Development
paper
Often, when doing research by ourselves, it is easy to become lost with our thoughts. And yet, if provided with opportunities to articulate our jumbled ideas and thus give them shape, clarity, and meaning in a supportive and non-judgmental environment to a fellow peer who is willing to listen and understand them, we may begin to see things more clearly, discover new perspectives, and find directions forward. This presentation will describe a doctoral study into the use of Instant Messenger Cooperative Development (IMCD), an online framework that utilises the Skype text function to enable researchers to communicate their research ideas to each other in cyberspace. It will explain how the online space was used by researchers, the obstacles they faced when conducting research projects, how IMCD enabled them to move forward, and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of the online framework by its users. It is hoped that participants undertaking distance masters or doctoral programs, teacher-researchers investigating aspects of their work, or those supervising students conducting research may go on to conduct their own IMCD sessions as a result of attending this presentation.
Transformative Tech Tool Trifecta: Socrative, Kahoot, and QuizUp
workshop
This workshop will introduce three free, easy to use tools that have the power to increase efficiency and drive engagement in classes of any proficiency level. Twenty minutes will be spent on each tool, with ten minutes of introduction and ten minutes of hands-on training and questions.
Socrative is an audience response system used to give in-class assessments and surveys that students access on their own devices. It can provide immediate performance feedback for both teachers and students; automated grading of multiple choice quizzes; the ability to provide prompt feedback during and after assessments; the ability to quickly elicit ideas/answers from students, and the retention of results for an entire class in a single file.
Kahoot has the same features as Socrative and is also accessed by students via their mobile devices, but is an exciting, competitive game suitable for introducing or reviewing course content. Students read multiple-choice quiz questions and answers projected on a classroom screen and race to choose the correct response before their classmates.
QuizUp is a competitive trivia game available online and for iOS and Android devices. Players compete with people around the world to answer accurately and quickly, making this an engaging, fluency-focused comprehension activity. Users can create their own sets of questions, allowing teachers and students to generate sets based on their course materials.
Although account creation for these tools is fast, participants are encouraged to set up accounts with Socrative and Kahoot and download the QuizUp app before the workshop if possible.
Incorporating Moodle and Student-Generated Podcasts in an Extensive Listening Program
paper
This presentation will discuss the use of Moodle and podcasts in an extensive listening (EL) program in a university in western Japan. The participants included 189 elementary and intermediate-level students. The students were required to write, practice, and record a five minute conversation with a partner about a topic of their choice. New audio files and their corresponding transcripts were uploaded weekly to a blog and made available to the students participating in the EL program. Students were allowed to use any media to satisfy their weekly EL requirement, but were encouraged to listen to their classmates’ podcasts. Additionally, students were required to summarize and share a link to the media on the class Moodle page. Moodle was used not only as a means for record keeping, but also as a repository of appropriately leveled, student-selected material which other students could then use as they wished. The purpose of this presentation is to show the techniques, tasks, and technology used to create and share the students’ podcasts and discuss the role that Moodle played in facilitating an online community where students could interact and share ideas with each other. This presentation will be useful for researchers and teachers who are interested in incorporating Web 2.0, extensive listening, and Moodle in their classrooms.
Kotoba Rollers: How Board Games Trump Video Games in the Classroom
workshop
The popularity of board games has risen steadily over the last decade reaching annual sales in excess of $800 million in 2014 (ICV2, 2015). Board game funding figures have also overtaken those of video games on the popular crowdsourcing website: Kickstarter. Yet, despite their increasing popularity, there is little research on the use of board games as a teaching tool in educational, let alone language-learning contexts. There is a greater tendency for researchers to be concerned with the use of digital games such as MMOs and other online virtual spaces. MMOs offer a great opportunity for intermediate or advanced learners to communicate with native speakers of the target language, but for low-level learners (such as those found in Japanese high-schools or non-major university courses) such domains may be too cognitively complex, filled with specialized discourse features, and ultimately demotivating due to the level of technical expertise needed to participate in gameplay. From such criticisms aimed at digital games, we argue that board games offer superior opportunities for authentic communication, and both affective and cognitive benefits when used as part of a rigorous teaching methodology.
In today’s workshop our goals are:
1) to educate practitioners on the range of available board games and their specific affordances for language learning from a sociocultural perspective.
2) to reveal our framework for using board games as a core component in EFL contexts with a specific consideration on fostering verbal interaction. This includes an extensive pre-play stage utilizing YouTube "gameplay" videos and other online resources.
Flipped English-language classroom videos with accompanying homework activity worksheets provide students greater opportunities for out-of-class speaking, listening, reading, and writing practice, which can enhance engagement and learner agency both in and outside of the class. This paper examines a yearlong PhD research study on the effects Flipped English classrooms have on elementary students' learning experiences, perceptions of, and engagement with, at-home learning activities designed to prepare students for in-class application and use of the target language. The at-home lesson videos and activity worksheets were designed using task- and flipped learning based frameworks while incorporating dimensions of personalization, self-regulation and novelty. Classroom observations and periodic surveys covered areas of a) participation/engagement; b) learner agency; c) time on task; d) perceived difficulty; e) interest; f) teaching approaches; and g) student-teacher roles in the classroom. Student, teacher, and parent feedback also provided useful data. The preliminary results of this study suggest Flipped English classes at the elementary level may be a viable and effective way to increase and strengthen learner engagement and agency both inside and outside of the classroom.
Keywords: Flipped classroom, flipped learning, EFL, CALL, learner engagement, learner agency, materials development, primary English education, Japan
Online Peer Feedback on Pronunciation Intelligibility
paper
Despite advances in CAPT (Neri, Cucchiarini, Strik, & Boves, 2002; Tsurutani et al., 2006), instructors remain the most important source of corrective pronunciation feedback (Szpyra, 2014; Timson, 2007). However, learners also need self-assessment skills (Dlaska & Krekeler, 2008; Pawlak, 2010), and as a mid-point between teacher corrective feedback and self-assessment, peer corrective feedback can help learners notice peers’ pronunciation and improve their own (Roccamo, 2015). However, peer corrective feedback is rarely used in pronunciation due to learner difficulty in pinpointing problematic areas (Kim & Yoon, 2014). This study proposes that rather than corrective feedback, peers should give feedback on intelligibility (Derwing & Munro, 2005), and that it could be delivered most effectively via computer.
This presentation introduces P-CHECK, a plug-in for the Glexa LMS (Version2) used by 80 Japanese universities, to facilitate peer intelligibility feedback given during focused phonemic and supra-segmental practice after explicit pronunciation instruction by the instructor. P-CHECK presents written “minimal pair sentences” containing the targeted phonemic or suprasegmental contrast for recording, then delivers this recording randomly to the learner’s peers for feedback on intelligibility.
After introducing P-CHECK’s functions, the results of two pilot studies are presented. Study 1 (n = 59) confirmed P-CHECK’s functions, investigated the requisite amount of feedback, and explored relationships among intelligibility, feedback accuracy, and feedback confidence. Study 2 (n = 55) investigated differences in learner attitudes when doing the same peer feedback face-to-face and when using P-CHECK. This presentation should be of interest to pronunciation teachers, users of Glexa, and software developers.
Integrating Learning Technology into Research Writing: A State of the Art Review of 2009-2015
paper
Writing research articles is necessary for all graduate students at universities worldwide. Many online writing tutorial tools have been designed to help graduate students and research-driven students learn research writing, such as DWright and EJP Write. Technology’s importance in learning research writing thus has been re-identified and re-evaluated in recent years. However, few review studies provide systematic discussions in the research field. The purpose of the study is to conduct a methodical literature review on the studies about integrating learning technology (LT) into research writing during 2009-2015. The study has two analytical aims: LT applied in research writing, and the comparison and analysis of research designs in the selected studies. For the first aim, the types of LT are used in research writing with regard to diverse linguistic areas, such as grammar, word use and paraphrasing. In addition, this review study also examines and classifies types of LT used in research writing studies in the selected studies. For the second aim, the study desires to offer current trends, challenges, directions and suggestions for both instructors and researchers by investigating different research designs of the identified studies in recent five years. The results will be of significant value to interested scholars in the academic field.
Generate Vocabulary, Pronunciation, and Listening Comprehension Activities for any YouTube Video
show-and-tell
Apps4EFL.com is a free, cross-device compatible, Web-Based Language Learning platform for teachers and students of EFL/ESL. The site is wholly devised and developed by the presenter. One of its newest features is the facility to convert any subtitled YouTube video into a multi-faceted language learning resource. Apps 4 EFL automatically generates a variety of vocabulary acquisition activities for videos, and tests pronunciation by utilizing the speech recognition component of the Web Speech API. It also provides an easy quiz creation facility for testing listening comprehension. The presenter will explain step-by-step how to upload a video to YouTube, automatically generate subtitles from a transcript, add the video to the Apps 4 EFL platform, create a listening comprehension quiz, administer the generated activities to students, and track their results. The presenter will also be taking suggestions for additional features, resources or activities.
A Genre Analysis of TED Talks which Contain Data Visualization
show-and-tell
There has been much research on the benefits of using TED Talks in the EFL classroom. TED Talks provide EFL students with examples of natural, spoken English, as well as an excellent model for giving presentations. This research focuses on TED talks in which the speaker uses data visualizations such as charts and graphs. The focus on this particular subset of TED is justified because many academic tasks require students to use data to support a thesis. Genre analyses of the video transcripts will be carried out to identify the main rhetorical moves / stages in these talks. There will be a discussion of the theoretical framework underlying the analysis, and pedagogical implications of the findings. It is envisaged that this research will prompt classroom activities which use TED Talks to help students understand how to use data to support an argument and structure a presentation effectively.
Using a Course Management System for Small Talking
show-and-tell
To help develop an awareness in learners of how language is used as an effective tool in international and intercultural communication, research calls for teachers to engage students in meaningful tasks which promote the use of communication strategies, the negotiation of meaning and co-construction of interaction (Björkman, 2013; Kaur, 2014; Matsumoto, 2011). Teachers might consider instructing their learners in small talk as research has shown that this everyday talk serves important relational, interactional, social identity and power functions (Coupland, 2000; Holmes, 2005; Pullin, 2010). The presenter will describe how students in her classrooms learn and practice small talk utilizing the institution’s course management system. Content areas can be built for easy student access to small talk expressions and questions. Students can share their small talk topics and ideas on blog posts. The teacher can use the system’s test and survey tools to track student improvement and elicit feedback. Post-instruction survey results show that students felt they could small talk well and perceived small talking as fun, useful and important. Videos of students in small talk exchanges can be uploaded for later class discussion and reflection sessions and used by the teacher to monitor student use of discourse and communication strategies.
Björkman, B. (2013). English as an academic lingua franca: An investigation of form and communicative effectiveness. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Coupland, J. (Ed.) (2000). Small Talk. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Jenkins, J. (2015). Repositioning English and multilingualism in English as a Lingua Franca. Englishes in Practice 2015, 2 (3), 49-85. DOI 10.1515/eip-2015-0003.
Holmes, J. (2005). When Small Talk is a Big Deal: Sociolinguistic Challenges in the Workplace. In Long, M.H. (Ed.), Second Language Needs Analysis (pp. 344-372). Cambridge University Press.
Kaur, J. (2014). Teaching the effective use of ELF: Insights from research into ELF pragmatics, in K. Murata (Ed.), WASEDA working papers in ELF (vol. 3, pp. 58-68). Tokyo: Waseda University.
Matsumoto, Y. (2011). Successful ELF Communications and Implications for ELT: Sequential Analysis of ELF Pronunciation Negotiation Strategies. The Modern Language Journal, 95(1), 97-114.
Pullin, P. (2010). Small Talk, Rapport, and International Communicative Competence: Lessons to Learn from BELF. Journal of Business Communication, 47(4), 455-476.
What Are Successful vs. Unsuccessful eTandem Dyads Doing Differently in Turn Negotiation?
paper
This presentation reports on a mixed-method study that took an interactional sociolinguistics approach to discourse analysis by bringing together the notion of Tannen's (2005) conversational styles and turn taking. To reveal the relationship between interactional patterns and positive/negative telecollaborative experiences, the study examined turn negotiation patterns of one high-functioning and one low-functioning dyads who engaged in video-based eTandem project in English and Japanese. The two research questions were (1) Do eTandem participants negotiate turns differently when interacting in English vs. Japanese? and (2) What interactional norms (e.g., Japanese, American, mixed/dynamic) do eTandem participants adopt? Comparison of English and Japanese findings demonstrated that, although the participants used different strategies when negotiating turns in English vs. Japanese, the outcome of the interaction was the same in either language, namely conversational dominance by the American participant in the low-functioning dyad vs. co-construction of conversational floor in the high-functioning dyad. Specifically, the quantitative analysis revealed that, while the low-functioning dyad engaged in long turns and infrequent speaker shift, the high-functioning dyad exchanged short turns in a fast pace, whether interacting in English or in Japanese. Qualitative analysis revealed that, while the low-functioning dyad followed their culture-specific interactional norms (i.e., the Japanese participant's use of silences as a face-saving strategy in English interaction and the American participant's association of topic initiation with floor holding using "broken starts" (Gardner, 2007) in Japanese interaction, the high-functioning dyad's interaction was characterized by reciprocity and dynamic shift of situated identity, having created a “third space” (Kramsch, 1993).
Extensive Reading on Smartphones: A Report on Student Engagement and Perceptions
paper
Extensive reading (ER) is regarded as an efficient method for which English language learners can make substantial gains in reading fluency and overall language acquisition. For language teachers, however, implementing ER in curricula has proved very formidable (e.g., Fenton-Smith, 2008; Robb, 2002). Responding to three pedagogical challenges: establishing student accountability, providing appropriate reading assistance, and ensuring students are reading large quantities of text, the presenter will report on the implementation of a mobile-based extensive reading component. Xreading (www.xreading.com), an online graded-reader library and learning management system devoted specifically to the implementation and management of ER. During a 15-week pilot test at a private Japanese university, four classes (n=70) read e-books and completed post-reading quizzes using the Xreading platform. Participants in this study had access to a virtual library of graded readers and were instructed to read outside of class using their preferred mobile device. The speaker will report on student engagement with this platform in regards to changes in reading speeds, total words read, and correlations between these numbers and changes in TOEIC® reading scores. Moreover, an account of student attitudes and perceptions of reading digitally will be shared. The presentation will close with a list of considerations for teachers and administrators, who recognize the benefits of ER and who, for various reasons, envisage implementing mobile-based reading tasks into their classroom syllabus.
Experiencing Online Collaboration and Learning New Digital Tools
paper
The current generation of Japanese university students, while possessing modern digital devices like smartphones and computers, are not the digital whiz kids we may assume. This is visible in the poor completion rates in e-learning course. Current literature has painted a picture quite different from the popular notion of the Digital Native. While proficient with entertainment or social tools, Japanese university students are limited in using smartphones or computers for productive or educational activities. Is this lack of digital proficiency a factor in poor e-learning completion? What challenges do students face when completing assignments with digital devices? This study examines students’ experience using online Google Apps for Education tools for collaborative learning during an online infographic group project. The aim was to explore the challenges students encounter when using digital tools for productive tasks. Phenomenographic analysis was employed to examine students’ experience using online tools for activities other than social or entertainment. The study employed open-ended survey questions as well as group and activity logs to record responses to reflection tasks. The reflection tasks focussed on the experiences of collaboration and using online digital tools. The results suggest that students fall into three groups, those that embraced the challenge of learning new tools, those that reluctantly attempted to use them, and those that refused to try the new tools. While the sample size is small (N=64) and consists of academically successful female students, the results may have implications for e-learning course design.
Recently Japanese university students are surrounded by digital language learning opportunities and carry around with them devices more powerful than even the best CALL rooms a decade ago. Yet few students seem to be making regular use of these; fewer still seem to be engaging with tools and content in a systematic way that can help them make significant proficiency gains. Reasons for this include the lack of use of technology in high schools, the paper-based culture of language learning in Japan, the lack of digital tool training for teachers and students, and university cultures that make studying outside of class less of a priority. It can be argued that a cultural system of learning is in place that makes it difficult for individual teachers to get students to engage in digital language learning regularly and sufficiently. If we are to improve the present situation, a systematic approach is needed that takes into account learner psychology (motivation, habit formation), usability (access and digital management), and instructional design at both the course and program levels. This presentation will describe a system in place that was designed to create a more engaging and supportive culture of learning by coordinating course curriculum, a portfolio system, counseling, and learning center assets. It was designed for onboarding students to the use of specific targeted tools through their integration in the program (regular required use and grade weighting), as well onboarding other autonomous learning tools through portfolio use, counseling, and learning center support sessions.
A Flexible HTML Template for Q&A Practice, Incorporating Speech Recognition
show-and-tell
A freely-available HTML template developed by the presenter will be demonstrated. The user can easily make very flexible, powerful web-based Q&A exercises, adapting to all screen sizes. The Chrome browser is required to use all the features.
The exercise presents the learner with an image (or sound or video to play) and/or some text, under which are an ear icon and eye icon to hear or see the question, a microphone icon to answer verbally, and an input box to type into. Ideally, the learner will listen, and answer verbally, but seeing the question or typing/editing the answer is possible at any time. The Google speech recognition result appears in the same editable input box. When satisfied, the learner hits "Enter", and the text is checked against the acceptable answers. If it matches any of them exactly, an icon for moving to the next question appears. Otherwise, feedback appears showing the answer it was closest to, with each wrong word replaced by a number showing how many letters are in the correct word. The learner may edit and try again, or resort to the “give up” button, to display all permitted answers.
The exercise data is all contained in a text file made with any text editor. The format is very flexible, but simple to understand, and permits multiple questions in a mix of formats, all within the same file. For the audio of the question, the user may upload an mp3 file; if not, text-to-speech will be automatically used.
Digital literacy involves the development of knowledge and skills for using digital devices and tools for specific purposes. Language teachers need to understand the concept of digital literacy and know the level of their students’ digital literacy when they use digital devices and tools for their teaching. This paper discusses definitions and elements of digital literacy and presents a digital literacy questionnaire containing questions related to the use of digital technologies and the level of digital literacy skills. It also reports the results of a study that used the digital literacy questionnaire to investigate the level of digital literacy of a group of English as a foreign language (EFL) students at a university in Japan and find out factors affecting their use of digital technologies for learning English. The findings of the study provide a picture of the students’ awareness and use of digital technologies and recommendations for digital literacy development in language education.
Preservice Teachers' Conceptions of Teaching English with Technology: Examining Conceptual Change Through Concept Mapping
paper
In discussing the barriers of technology integration, Ertmer (2005) pointed out that, for changes in classroom teaching practice to take place, researchers need to examine the belief teachers hold about teaching, learning, and technology. Accordingly, this study explored how nine English as a foreign (EFL) preservice teachers’ conceptions of teaching English with technology changed after they completed a short online course on this topic. Data were mainly collected through concept mapping technique. Participants’ pre-course and post-course concept maps, their observation of the changes and the reason for the changes between the two maps were elicited. An exit interview was also conducted with each preservice teacher to gain better understanding of the content of their map. The participating preservice teachers’ pre- and post-course concept maps were analyzed using frequency counts and keyword category technique. Analysis showed a decrease in the Device concept category and the emergence of “teacher”, which suggested a move-away from perceiving teaching English with technology as device-oriented to recognizing the human agent (teacher) in technology integration. Furthermore, the Application and Utility concept category accounted for nearly half (48%) of the concepts produced in participants’ post-course concept maps which implied that they held positive images regarding the topic. Teachers’ pedagogical beliefs are the foundation of their action in classrooms. It was hoped that by consciously raising preservice teachers’ awareness to their conceptions of teaching English with technology, preservice teachers could have to opportunity to deconstruct, construct, and examine their own theories toward technology integration.
Electronic Self-assessment Surveys: Engaging Lower-tier Learners with QR Codes and Smartphones
show-and-tell
With the growing need to improve English language communication, more specifically with lower-tier learners, educators are still confronted with a number of challenges in areas of motivation, interest and overall awareness. Little (2005) and Ross (2006) have shown that self-assessment is an invaluable way of involving students in the learning and evaluation process, enabling students to become more autonomous and self-directed learners. Through this action research project we examined learners’ motivation, interest and overall awareness through the implementation of electronic self-assessment surveys “to provide learners with the possibility to be consciously involved in their own learning,” and giving students the skills to make the most of language learning opportunities (Dam 2009). All self-assessment surveys were created using Google Forms and were deemed best distributed by using QR codes for students to scan with their personal electronic devices (smartphones) as a way to encourage them to use familiar technology to improve their L2 acquisition. QR codes are readily used in the daily lives of people in Japan, but have been underused in the classroom. We will demonstrate the use of this readily available technology from planning to distribution and collection of results and how it can help to engage lower-tier learners in an effort to be more motivated and better equipped to becoming autonomous learners.
Speaking with your Computer: A New Way to Practice Conversation
show-and-tell
With the recent improvements in computer speech and recognition as shown in products like Siri, students are now able to have conversations with their PC. This talk will introduce a system the presenter has developed where students can role-play with the computer, and have the computer grade the results. The role of the computer can be adjusted by gender and nationality. Thus the computer can equally play their role as an American, Australian, British, Irish, or even Spanish speaker of English, male or female etc. Furthermore, the speech can be adjusted for speed as a form of scaffolding, and other variables such as pitch thus allowing conversations with multiple characters.
The power of this system lies in the fact that instructors can simply type a conversation or drill, or even copy and paste some text, and students can practice speaking immediately meaning that in a matter of minutes spoken homework can be set and automatically graded - the presenter himself regularly sets and grades 140 students with 10 minutes of work. Attendees who bring a laptop with Chrome will be able to start using the system immediately. The system already has many conversations, and will allow teachers to freely add their own dialogues, create their own classrooms thus enabling classroom assessment.
The ability to practice and grade speaking outside the classroom will revolutionize the way we teach language, and the talk will finish with a discussion of these possibilities.
Assessing the Effect of Mobile Apps on Reading Speed and Comprehension
paper
Mobile devices are becoming increasingly common as a means of accessing texts for reading. Along with this trend come opportunities to harness the utility of these devices to assist second language learners, especially those who struggle with the accurate and efficient decoding of text. This presentation will report the results of a replication study investigating the effectiveness of a text presentation format known as Span Limited Tactile Reinforcement (SLTR). The main features of SLTR include: large font size, short line length and manual scrolling capability. These factors were observed to alleviate the reading difficulties of L1 readers demonstrating visual attention deficits, poor phoneme decoding skills, and difficulties with sight word recognition (Schneps, 2013). The aim of the replication study was to ascertain if similar effects could be observed in an L2 reading context. Reading rates and text comprehension scores were collected from Japanese English language learners under two conditions. In one condition, subjects read a short passage printed in block text on standard A4 paper. In the other condition, the passage was presented through a reading app (GoodReader) and formatted according to SLTR. The study utilized a repeated measures design in which all subjects were measured in all conditions, allowing participants to serve as their own controls. Results of the study will be discussed with emphasis on subjects who exhibited impaired phoneme decoding and sight word recognition skills during diagnostic testing prior to the study.
Asynchronous Dialogue and Learner Dynamic Assessment
paper
This presentation will discuss language learning and learner-learner collaboration inside an asynchronous online chat forum, the use of tools to mediate learning, and dynamic assessment instances occurring between learners. First year general English students collaborated using an online forum to create poster and PowerPoint presentations and during the collaboration process learners posted ideas and content in the forum and also shared and built poster and PowerPoint files. These files or 'improvable objects' become the focal point of the learner-learner mediation. The learner dialogue was analyzed to determine its effect on the process and the shared files were analyzed to determine their effect on further language use. The presenter will display and discuss the data from a sociocultural perspective and 3rd generation activity theory to show how learners mediate with different tools to generate and confer about content, how they divide the labor and organize their work, and how they assist each other through this process. Vygotsky's concept of the 'more capable peer' will be discussed from the perspective of the zone of proximal development, including approaches students use to dynamically assess each other to improve their content. The presenter will discuss the implications of learner collaboration and content development and will explain how learners adopt a 'non textbook - more autonomous' approach to language development by building their own learning environment and drawing on the affordances (object and conversational) to develop further. The presenter will discuss 'ecological dynamic assessment' in this online environment.
Escaping the Matrix: Using CALL and e-Learning Responsibly
paper
There has been rapid expansion of the use of technology in education since the turn of the century. A myriad of new tools enable novel teaching strategies that have changed the face of classrooms around the globe. Teachers who adopt e-learning into their courses have been criticised for valuing the use of technology over learning outcomes. In this age of information, the appropriate use of technology for improving the learning environment is an essential aspect of instructional design. How e-learning systems fit into the curriculum and their effects on in-class and online pedagogy are topics that require careful consideration. This presentation will showcase several examples of e-learning integration with an analysis of their student engagement and pedagogy. This will be followed by a discussion of the roles of the classroom, students, teachers, and online learning environments and how these fit into the curriculum as elements of instructional design. Finally, we will examine some of the pedagogical reasons given by educators who refuse to adopt e-learning into their courses, and consider the merits of their arguments.
Telecollaboration for International Education: How to Create a Contact Zone for Learning a Foreign Language and Culture
workshop
Advancement of technology has enabled students to go beyond the classroom walls and interact with the target language community. Telecollaboration is a type of intercultural communication where geographically distal groups of language learners meet online to learn a foreign language and its culture (e.g., learners of English in Japan interacting with learners of Japanese in the US). In this workshop, participants will learn about various telecollaborative set-ups (e.g., eTandem, Cultura, project-based learning) and online tools (e.g., Skype, text chatting, email, blogging) and discuss the pros and cons of these telecollaborative arrangements. Participants will also learn about tasks that are often used in telecollaboration and critically analyze the effectiveness of each task type for achieving intended learning outcomes. Note that the typologies of telecollaborative set-ups, participant characteristics, CMC tools, and task types are based on a synthesis (in the form of a scoping review) of over 60 studies that utilized synchronous CMC tools in combination with asynchronous CMC tools. Throughout the workshop, the presenter will share her experience having arranged various types of telecollaborative set-ups between Japan and the US and provide suggestions for how to overcome potential issues that may arise before, during, and after the telecollaborative project. The context-specific nature of the learning set-up will be discussed, and participants are invited to reflect on their own teaching context and come up with the most appropriate telecollaborative project that can accommodate their needs, technological competency, institutional constraints, and assessment.
An introduction to Lexxica's new RPG learning app called, Words & Monsters! In this game players defeat monsters by systematically acquiring the important new vocabulary they need to efficiently improve their overall English language ability. The 15,000+ word list in the database covers 99% of all general communications, as well as 99% of TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, SAT, and the GRE. Words and Monsters manages the flow of new vocabulary to each learner according to their specific lexical needs. Thanks to its broad lexical range and its ability to adjust to each learner, this game is ideal for all learners ages 10 and up. The game dynamics are specifically designed to generate dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked with critical brain functions including: higher cognition, sustained motivation, efficient learning, and improved working memory. And should they choose to, teachers may set study goals, monitor progress, generate quizzes, and even request their own word lists so as to directly support syllabuses and research projects. Words & Monsters is available to Android and Apple mobile devices.
This unconventional workshop does not come with fancy tech tools and solutions ready for implementation. It simply presents a real-world challenge; design a digital feedback system to facilitate a meaningful volunteer point system. Team up and test your skills to enable students to share their endeavors on SNS, automate as much as possible, as well as stimulate and protect students' intrinsic motivation to help others. After working in groups, teams will present their designs and offer feedback to each other. Whether novice or expert, this workshop will be an enjoyable and beneficial experience with a meaningful outcome; enabling increased volunteer efforts and possibly facilitating cooperation between universities and local citizens. Note: This is a real issue that will benefit from your participation. Thank you in advance!
One of the most novel ways to engage students in the classroom is to develop hands on activities with robots, particularly for university students majoring in STEM fields. As outlined in Pluck and Johnson (2011), adding novelty to the classroom raises students’ motivation and enhances attention to the task at hand. This works by stimulating the Reticular Activating System (RAS), the part of the brain through which all sensory input passes, and which is particularly sensitive to novelty and pleasure (Willis, 2010). However, the fusion of technology, standard classroom procedures and language learning can raise difficulties in classroom management and assessment practices, not to mention sustaining novelty and interest over time. This workshop aims to provide participants with a range of tools to overcome these obstacles. During this workshop, participants will gain hands on experience using LEGO Mindstorms robots. Participants will also be introduced to a robot-based curriculum incorporating a number of short term and long term activities focusing on vocabulary learning and presentation skills which aim to narrow the gap between what students do with the robots and what they do with language. In addition, participants will be asked to actively participate in brainstorming activities to extend the concepts of the workshop to their own individual pedagogical contexts.
Pluck, G., & Johnson, H. L. (2011). Stimulating curiosity to enhance learning. GESJ: Education Sciences and Psychology, 2.
Willis, J. (2010). The current impact of neuroscience on teaching and learning. Mind, brain and education: Neuroscience implications for the classroom, 45-68.
Implementing Quizlet in a University Business English Course
show-and-tell
Deliberate learning of vocabulary is an essential component of any EFL course (Nation, 2013). The online flashcard program Quizlet is among several popular options for students learning vocabulary. While there is literature about how Quizlet works as a tool (e.g. creating digital flashcards, different study modes), clear descriptions of how it can potentially fit into the larger scheme of a curriculum in a meaningful way are lacking. This presentation will describe how Quizlet was implemented in an undergraduate Business English course setting at a Japanese engineering university to both introduce and allow students to learn and practice new Business English vocabulary. Instructors created vocabulary sets for students to study in preparation for communicative tasks that were planned for the following class. In order to gauge students’ perceptions and to understand how students actually used Quizlet (e.g. device preference, time spent studying) students completed a post-course survey. Students’ perceptions of Quizlet as a vocabulary learning tool were mostly positive. The presentation will conclude with suggestions for how to effectively use Quizlet as a vocabulary learning component of any English language course.
Five Different Ways of Voice Recording with Mobiles in the Classroom
show-and-tell
Language Learning Sound Labs have a history of over 100 years from tape to student controlled cassettes and then computers. There are a myriad reasons teachers would like students to make voice recordings from dialogues, and presentations, to pronunciation, self-study homework, and assessment. Now, given the power of mobile devices, such as iPhones and other smartphones, sound labs are in every students’ hands, allowing simple production of individual or collaborative voice recordings without the need for computers. While any mobile device can record sound with just a tap, there is more to using them in a class setting that this presentation will explain. Different methods for student mobiles recording will be compared, including the critical details of how teachers can collect, share, evaluate and give feedback to the submitted voice recordings. These methods include firstly using mobile sound recording apps to make files submitted to the teacher via email, dropbox or direct to mobile LMS, secondly using different Web 2.0 mobile apps (Mailvu, Moxtra or Voicethread) that create web links of the recordings accessible through the app or embedding the link, and finally direct recording into empowered mobile LMS apps such as Schoology. The presentation will provide a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of these different methods, all of which the presenters have used for various recording activities with their classes. Tips for their successful use will also be shared and participants can then choose the methods that best suit them.
The brain is sometimes called the most complex object in the known universe. Complexity theory provides insight into the structure of the brain, cognitive processes and learning. It’s also increasingly being explored in the context of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) studies.
This workshop will provide a basic introduction to complexity theory as it relates to foreign language education, drawing on the work of Diane Larsen-Freeman and others. The fundamental assumption of complexity theory in SLA is that learning does not proceed in an orderly, step-by-step fashion. Rather, learning itself, as well as the conditions needed to encourage learning, can be understood as complex systems, prone to resistance to change or sudden leaps in understanding. For similar reasons, classroom activities that may work on one occasion can fail on another. While teachers have always known that producing predictable educational outcomes is difficult, traditional approaches to second language acquisition and pedagogy do not take this complexity into account.
This workshop will provide teachers with a new way to look at learning, classroom management, the language-culture connection, and more. It will touch upon an open-systems perspective, and developmental models of learning. Theoretical constructs will be explained in simple terms and connected clearly to classroom examples. There will be an opportunity to discuss how these new ideas can inform classroom practice. This workshop is appropriate for teachers wanting a fresh perspective on foundational issues of learning and teaching.
Apple's iMovie app has a wealth of functions and powerful features that only a few years ago were only available on professional level video editing suites. Now many of the effects seen in movies are at the finger tips of educators who have the latest version of iMovie. This session will show teachers how to find online audio / / photo / video resources to add to their iMovie libraries. It will also cover the importation of video clips from iOS devices and video cameras / DSLR's and will go through the myriad tool set of iMovie. Tips for online hosting of your finished creations will also be shown and comparative benefits and educational usage tips for Vimeo and YouTube will also be covered. By the end of the session attendees should be ready to unlease their inner Tarantino and start using iMovie in their teaching!
Transforming a traditional class into a blended or fully online course for use in a Learning Management Systems (LMS) can be a challenging task for educators who lack experience in course design or knowledge of underlying learning theory. Educators may default to hosting static materials (PDFs or text webpages) on an LMS, which can lead to dissimilarities between the syllabus, classroom-teaching approach, and LMS itself. Therefore, the features of an LMS that could support ‘learning’ are underutilized creating a de facto LMS that is in reality a Content Management System. This presentation will provide an overview of established course design and the supporting rationale with concrete examples in the form of individual course units that are aligned with the overarching goals of the course syllabus. Each unit will address the following topics; the theoretical basis of the course, comprehensive course design, the inclusion of game elements and implementing a ‘flipped’ classroom approach. Units will further be subdivided by the supporting research; for example, the topic ‘course design’ will be supported by research in the areas of multimodal resources, pedagogical agents and usability. The presentation LMS will be a Moodle with the Essential theme, however, the information presented will be applicable to the creation of any online course, regardless of the LMS utilized. Additionally, the information presented can be utilized as a template by interested audience members when creating their own peadagocial grounded, online courses.
Shaken Not Stirred: Making a Self-introduction CALL Cocktail
show-and-tell
Student self-introductions are a fantastic first presentation for any class, they allow for the gentle introduction of the student to the skills of the digital presentation. It allows the instructor to concentrate on the presentation skills because the content is familiar and therefore not challenging to memorise. In addition the sharing of personal experiences is often a great way for students to "break the ice" and learn about their fellow classmates. I have always used Prezi for this purpose as it allows the students to also learn a valuable option to the standard Power point presentation. However with a class of 25 students, I have always had to divide the students into groups of 6 in which to give their presentations, this has meant they only learned about 5 of their classmates. Therefore this last semester, Fall 2015, I had the students create a narrated Prezi, self-introduction, which was then placed on YouTube. This cocktail of softwares allowed all of the students to view every other class members' work, while also offering valuable reflection and repetition practice in creating the narrated Prezi and additional useful 'global' skills of being able to use screen capture software and the YouTube video service.
In this presentation I would like to share a step by step method for: creating a Prezi, narrating a Prezi using JING, and finally uploading the narrated Prezi to YouTube. I will provide examples to illustrate these methods using videos created by my students.
Advanced curriculum design based on neuroELT research
workshop
Maximizing student potential though better curriculum design. This is a hands-on professional development workshop, examining cutting-edge research in optimal curriculum design, grounded in neuroscience. This workshop has three parts: (1) We will learn how to build a curriculum based on research that shows significant improvement in the cognitive development of EFL students in Japan. We will learn how to compare different syllabus types, then, learn about how a neuroscience-based curriculum design has greatly improved the cognitive development of EFL students in Japan, enabling an experimental group of students to significantly outperform their peers when cognitive prowess was tested –in their L2 (English). Together we will examine the benefits of researching the cognitive development of EFL students in their L2 (why this is important, yet has been neglected for so long), in light of this newer curriculum design and data that had been produced from it. Then, (2) we will begin tailoring that basic design to fit the specific needs of our participants’ teaching contexts. (3) In the final 15 minutes we will briefly share our ideas and assess our own creations in a very supportive environment, with the intent of encouraging future collaboration among the participants. The ultimate goal being the establishment of an on-going support system among teachers who wish to pursue this line of research at a professional level.
Developing Group Autonomy Online: A Collaborative Language Learner Blog
show-and-tell
This presentation takes as its starting point a view of second language acquisition as a case of socially situated cognitive and knowledge development (social constructivist), where this process is identified not solely with the brain or mind, but with the person and their beliefs as a whole, ascribing a high cognitive value however to patterns of inference. The presentation will evaluate the suitability of a group blog for enabling conditions for a shift in learner beliefs about what constitutes learning, and a transformation therefore in their self identity (as a learner), towards that of being a more autonomous learner than before, within a group or social setting. An explicit aim of this presentation is to assess the extent to which a learner blog can support a direction of knowledge development and transfer between learners themselves, as contrasted with a learner expectation of a one-way direction of knowledge transmission, from teacher to learner.
The presentation will include answering practical questions about choosing an appropriate blog platform (Wordpress for example) in line with the principles and aims above; similarly also points relating to the design of a collaborative learner web blog. Additional areas touched upon will be: Creating channels for providing learner guidance/ feedback, and linking/ embedding suitable content (text, image, sound), along with some general pointers regarding online ecologies for collaborative learning. It is to be remembered however, that it is intended that it will be the learners who will primarily, in a collaborative sense, create the content for their blog.
Breaking the Silence: Between Prosody Focused Training and Listening Skills Development for Beginners
show-and-tell
Would any online courseware be effective in developing basic listening/speaking skills among beginner level university students? Although having attended many years of English classes at school, university students in Japan still seem to have limited experiences in pronouncing or reading English sentences aloud. University students today are the students who had ALT English classes at elementary school. Their listening/speaking skills, however, seem to stay the same as those who had never had English courses that young.
The presenters have been engaged in a new English program for engineering freshmen and sophomores where listening/speaking are prioritized to be able to read and write eventually. When English is one of the top ranked subjects they had avoided for a long time, where should we start to break the students' silence and remotivate them to deal with language learning? This presentation will describe how we attempt to remotivate rather quiet engineering major students toward listening/speaking skill development using ATR CALL BRIX, an online courseware primarily focuses on improving vocabulary, structure, pronunciation and listening. No matter how much students understand their own need and possibilities of acquiring some basic listening/speaking skills through this courseware, it is still not easy for them to continue their self-access learning if they are totally left alone. The presenters will focus on how our self-access trainings are instructed in order to activate quiet learners toward becoming used to and less nervous of vocalizing English. This presentation will also discuss what our approach has achieved.
Successful language students are those who use the language outside the classroom. As teachers, we encourage this behavior by assigning homework. Most if not all university students in Japan possess smartphones these days, and these devices have a number of affordances that make them ideal tools for doing multimedia assignments outside class. Smartphones can record both high-quality sound and video; they can take photos; they have screens for reading and keyboards for writing; they enable access to materials on demand and the ability to submit assignments at any time. This presentation will examine a variety of assignment types that can be used with smartphones to develop students’ four skills, from recording and submitting speaking assignments, to listening and following instructions; from reading digital materials to writing comments on a blog. There are programs for students to make their own digital flash cards. This presentation will look at a variety of possible activities and evaluate their effectiveness based on the presenters' experiences using smartphones for homework in university classes.
An Investigation of Digital Literacy: Preparing Japanese University Freshmen for Study Abroad
paper
Studies published in the JALTCALL Journal half a decade ago by Murray and Blyth (2011) and Lockley (2011) concluded that Japanese university freshman lack core computer literacy skills. More importantly, both studies also suggested that normalization of CALL activities is still a long way off. Given the shifts in 21st century Japanese education towards more technology-based instruction and an increase in computer skills classes, coupled with the ascent of a so-called “digital generation” into higher education, has computer literacy really improved among university freshmen? To answer that question, and to investigate a perceived gap in computer literacy skills as reported by students who participated in a one-year study abroad program in Australia, the authors surveyed 110 freshmen tourism majors in a compulsory English program. In addition to accessibility, ownership, and ability to manipulate personal computers and mobile devices for either personal or professional use, interest in CALL and CALL training were also examined. Along with survey feedback, the presenters identify core skills that they aim to develop when preparing students for a year-long study abroad program and describe some of the tasks they have adopted to serve this purpose. The information presented in this talk will be of interest to ESP curriculum designers, faculty affiliated with study abroad programs and teachers inspired to include CALL activities in their classroom.
Big Data Writing Improvement Software: Is It Any Good Yet?
show-and-tell
This talk will introduce a number of current software products that attempt to improve writing by offering features such as automatic grammar checking, sentence rephrasing, proofreading, translation, and overall writing evaluation. Although active writing assistance software is not new, current offerings such as Ginger and Grammarly take advantage of new statistical techniques and vast amounts of corpus data, and thus differ considerably from what was available in the past. Additionally, other technological changes, such as mobile and cloud computing, have greatly altered how and when such software can be used. After a brief overview of how modern techniques have remade this area of assistive software, the speaker will provide a feature review and performance analysis for several current systems from the perspective of second language instruction. The talk will conclude by highlighting the pedagogical implications for the use of such software, as well as practical issues related to how such software may best be incorporated into university-level second language writing courses. The issues discussed will range from whether or how this kind of software may be used effectively, to concerns about whether or not it may serve as a replacement for (rather than enhancement of) actual learning.
Technology-enhanced instruction has made possible new opportunities in language teaching. However, as language teachers, we know well that technology is only as good as its application. In this presentation, I will describe and show how I am using mobile devises with a range of online resources and applications to enhance and extend motivational and learning strategies, teach key concepts and provide opportunities for students to collaborate, practice, produce and review what they are learning. I will first give examples of how I have been using iPads and Smartphones in small group listening, reading, writing and speaking activities centered on online authentic materials such as TED Talks, National Public Radio and American Public Broadcasting programs, Storyline Online, ProCon.org, and others. I will then outline how I have been creating and using online materials to help students extend their understanding of these authentic resources. I will describe how I am creating customized course websites using Weebly, developing and using animated videos with Go-Animate and music slideshows with Animoto, and creating online quizzes and games using Quizlet and surveys using Quia. I will conclude by briefly identifying and discussing some key themes in students’ perceptions of the roles that various types of technology-supported instruction are playing in their learning.
Technology-enhanced Language Learning: Motivation and the Brain
paper
This presentation will present the results of two technology-enhanced research projects. Stockwell (2013) has reported on the “(i)nherent motivational effects of technology” (p.157). The researcher set up two projects to test his statement: One, to explore the influence of Skype-based live video exchanges; the other, in-class tablet-computer Positive Self-Review (Dowrick, 1977) video recording. Along these lines, Przybylski and his associates (Przybylski, Weinstein, Murayama, Lynch, & Ryan, 2012) have investigated the relationship between the Ideal Self and computer-based activities. Murayama et al. (2014) have documented that self-determined choice does indeed enhance performance. This neural basis for human desire to engage in activities and / or feel intrinsically rewarded has been shown to be the reason behind many achievement theories of motivation. In EFL studies based on neuroscience, Murphey (2011) has reported on the excitement aroused in learners as a result of the release of the hormone dopamine as students experience the excitement of successful learning. This neural basis for human desire to engage in activities and / or feel intrinsically rewarded has been shown to be the reason behind many achievement theories of motivation (see Murayama, Elliot, & Friedman, 2012). The Skype exchange results show the increases in the identified regulation (Ideal L2 Self) items and the intrinsic stimulation items show a statistically significant (p < .05) increase of more than .70 each. Even more interesting is the increase of 1.28 points on the intrinsic accomplishment scale, which is statistically significant at the p < .01 level. The effect size (using Glass’ delta) for the statistically significant differences for the identified regulation scale is 0.49; For intrinsic accomplishment the result is 0.80; and for intrinsic stimulation, the result is 0.45. These results and the results for the iPad experiment will be reported and discussed.
The results and implications are discussed.
Beyond Traditional Language and Literacy: The Rise of Mobile Literacy
Keynote
Language teachers have long focused not only on teaching language itself, but on the literacy skills necessary to use language effectively. Nowadays, literacy requirements have expanded to include a whole suite of digital literacies which go well beyond traditional reading and writing skills.
Among these digital literacies, mobile literacy is rapidly becoming the key literacy for learning, working and living in the 21st century. It is a macroliteracy, composed of other more particularised literacies. They include long-established literacies like information and multimodal literacy, which are taking on greater prominence thanks to mobile devices. They include newer literacies like network and code literacy, which are coming into their own in the contemporary era. They include literacies which are just beginning to emerge, such as data literacy. Interwoven with all of these literacies, there must also be a strong element of critical mobile literacy.
Mobile learning opens up the possibilities for active, collaborative, situated learning at all levels of education. At the same time, it opens up both the need and the opportunity to help students acquire the mobile literacy skills which are essential not only to supporting their learning, but to supporting their working and personal lives in an ever more mobile world.
The Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition (SAMR) Framework: An approach and example
Poster
This paper presents an example of using the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition (SAMR) (Puentedura, 2013) framework for junior high EFL students in Japan. Many junior high EFL students in Japan receive few opportunities to benefit from collaboration or the use of other modes of communication other than visuals in EFL learning therefore this paper attempts to show how mediational patterns which are common in Japan can be melded with less common ones through the use of technology with the SAMR framework. This paper introduces shoutwiki and hot potatoes as pieces of technology that lend themselves to making tasks that combine different mediational patterns. By emphasizing the “Redefinition” portion of the SAMR framework, this paper shows that the use of technology in the Japanese language learning classroom can augment and redefine learning tasks as well as teaching approaches. This paper shows that wikis and programs like hot potatoes lend themselves to the approaches to language teaching that are familiar to junior high EFL students as well as approaches that the students are not very familiar with. The two pieces of technology are connected in a module of task based language learning that follows the SAMR framework which combines the two different pieces of technology and increase the“educational value of the activity” (Romrell, Kidder, & Wood, 2014, p. 8).
Designing Personal Learning Environments for L2 Learning
Poster
Though students may express a preference for digital learning and profess to know how they learn best, giving them maximum control over what and how they learn may not result in desired language learning outcomes. This poster examines student perceptions of Personal Learning Environments (PLEs), virtual communities which focus on multiple literacies through such modes as audio, colour, and still and moving images. Two surveys were administered via Google Forms to Japanese, Kyrgyz and Malay university students who reported back on their online preferences and use in studying English inside and outside the classroom. The survey instruments were developed with reference to the Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (DELES), which investigated the assessment of online learning environments. The surveys covered time spent using mobile devices, personal preferences in selecting software, functions of apps to aid language learning, online behaviour, and learners’ evaluation of their ability to make effective use of a virtual learning community. The results of the data indicate that explicit training is needed, in creating and using a PLE for language learning, for students to make satisfactory progress. It follows that L2 instructors require support in building their own knowledge of emerging technologies to better assist their students.
Digital Fluency Practice in English Discussion Classes
Poster
One of the major goals in an English Discussion Class context for first year university students is to support fluency development in speaking. One activity which significantly enhances fluency is a “3/2/1 Practice” during which learners must generate their own ideas related to a theme or discussion question within 3 minutes and repeat the same content with reduced time limits of 2 minutes and 1 minute (an adaptation of the 4/3/2 technique). This poster presentation compares observations of the effectiveness of traditional classroom practice with the introduction of a digital version, using Quizlet. Potential benefits of the digitalized activity will be discussed; some of which include the promotion multimodal literacy and learner autonomy. The poster will also outline limitations of the exercise, such as poor access to mobile technology and non-digital native teacher perspectives. Discussion of further investigation into the effectiveness of the activity applied in different teaching contexts will conclude the presentation.
English through Minecraft: Reflections on a University Course
Poster
This poster will cover a semester-long elective course taught at a Japanese university using the popular computer game, Minecraft, as a medium for engaging students in a multimodal classroom. Students practice English while engaging in digital literacies as well as more traditional task- and problem-based learning skills. Digital literacies covered in the course include both receptive skills (navigating a wiki, searching for and following how-to videos on YouTube) as well as productive skills such as designing and maintaining a website with multiple sections for a blog, photo/screenshot gallery, and a video page where students can display Let’s Play videos (narrated videos featuring gameplay and projects created by the students). An overview of the course will be discussed, including completed projects, along with the various challenges, obstacles and limitations that can be expected when conducting a technology-dependent course, as well as implications and suggestions for implementing digital games in the classroom.
In the news, in the classroom and online - a year in the life of an online and interactive textbook.
Poster
2014 saw the inauguration of the Super Global High School initiative in Japan - a project that aimed to equip students with a deeper knowledge of global and social issues, second language communication ability and problem solving skills. The mission aim is commendable but how might these achievements be met in the context of a language classroom? And how can we further define the notion of `being global`? In order to broaden our students` global views we concluded that having ‘in class’ access to meaningful, current and ‘clickable’ international news topics – presented in an online textbook would go some way to facilitate a technology blended – learner centered environment, a move away from the traditional high school classroom.
This poster presents a case study of a year of Innewsmagazine in curriculum at Toho Senior High School in Tokyo. We would like to highlight the pedagogical lessons learnt from the successes and the failures of trying to implement a wholly online course in the classroom and exhibit practical implications for student collaboration, mobile communities of academic practice and reactive to proactive learner autonomy. Over the academic year, these theoretical tools have been considered to conduct small scale pilot studies which in turn have provided us with some illuminating findings – a potential stepping stone towards the normalization of technology in the high school language classroom.
Is Quizlet an effective tool for learning to use vocabulary?
Poster
Inspired by the need to aid low-proficiency English users to increase their knowledge and ability to use vocabulary, this poster session reports on a preliminary study comparing vocabulary test scores of Quizlet flashcard users and non-users. Thirty-two low level university students were asked to use Quizlet to prepare for tests recycling fill-in-the-blank contents from flashcard sets available on a class Quizlet page. A need for more homogeneous experimentation is acknowledged, but the results are promising. Learners in the class who used gap-fill flashcards from the class sets scored higher on the vocabulary tests with recycled contents and moderately higher on a test with previously unseen contents using the same target vocabulary. However, a need to encourage longer term retention is considered.
Learning Japanese Kanji: How Technology Can Help the Brain out
Poster
Learning Kanji as a major obstacle to mastering Japanese is evident to any learner from a non-Kanji background including the presenters. In this poster, mainstream Kanji teaching methods and learning strategies such as repetition, association, and visualization will first be reviewed. Then, the facilitating use of technology in retaining Kanji will be explored. Following that, several Kanji iOS and web-based applications (e.g., Perfect Master Kanji, Anki, WaniKani, and KanjiPictoGraphix) will be demonstrated to analyze the pedagogical methods and approaches behind them and the extent to which the developers of these applications have taken brain research into account. Finally, the use of mnemonics as one of the most effective methods in learning Kanji will also be explicated while referring to the ease of storing visual information in the brain.
Reflective Learning Development Through e-Learning
Poster
The multimodality of the current e-learning and CALL landscape offers students opportunities to experience, integrate, and then subsequently network their learning experiences. International learners are often requested to keep learning logs that evidence their experiences and concomitantly facilitate L2 identity development, ultimately creating mobile learners (Watson & Agawa, 2013). Mobile learners are defined as individuals who possess the skill-set to (a) confidently and smoothly shift identities from one community of practice to another, (b) transfer learning skills between communities of practice, (c) continue to gain knowledge and experience of how to use all four experiential learning routes (Jarvis, 1999) regardless of technological literacy level, and (d) effectively recognize individual threshold levels for each route.
However, L2 learners without training on how to effectively keep learning logs and on how to integrate learning experiences tend to recount facts rather than show higher-order (reflective/hypothesis testing) learner development. Addressing this issue, we we apply Jarvis’ experiential learning theory, this study compares two groups of Japanese study abroad participants, one with pre-departure reflective learning log workshop training and the second without pre-departure training. Both incorporated an e-learning format that combined practical experiences in the UK with learners emailing learning log updates to their home institution for dialogue with instructors. Content analysis reveals that the group with training showed greater integration of knowledge as shown through increased instances of student reflection on experiences and growth of their L2 learner identity. Findings also stress the value of program structure (Moore, 1997) within e-learning and CALL.
Tensions in Software Development and Educational Innovation
Poster
This poster outlines the ongoing development of an online application which aims to provide fast, effective formative assessment of students’ current stage of learning in a flipped classroom context. Formative assessment has been described as evidence of learning which helps practitioners in planning the next stage of instruction. The flipped classroom context provides an opportunity for classroom activities to be contingent on learners’ demonstration of knowledge and understanding outside of the classroom. Furthermore, Web 2.0 technologies can provide feedback to teachers about which learners understand what aspect of a unit of study. However, the technologies also have a number of limits. These limits include the extent to which they encourage learner engagement with a unit of study, and the adaptability of the technologies to the formative assessment intentions of the teacher. By charting the development of this online application, the poster will highlight the tension between software development and educational innovation as experienced by this teacher/developer. The software was used with first year EFL writing classes to help the teacher gain insight into learners’ understanding of paragraph structure. The classroom instruction which followed was contingent on the type of feedback supplied by the software, and the effectiveness of classroom instruction impacted on the further development of the application.
The Impact of Computer-assisted Vocabulary Learning on Young EFL learners’ Approaches and Acquisition
Poster
This work-in-progress study aimed to investigate (1) the vocabulary learning strategies that young EFL learners frequently use, (2) what approaches they prefer to use with computer-assisted self-study tool Quizlet that consists of six approaches to vocabulary learning (viz. Flashcards, Learn, Speller, Test, Scatter, Gravity), (3) to what extent their vocabulary learning approaches change, and most of all, (4) to what extent Quizlet enhances their vocabulary learning. Participants (4 boys and 4 girls), Taiwanese 7th graders, came to a language school twice a week for preparing the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT, an English proficiency test in Taiwan). One of the learning objectives was to expand 80 GEPT words in 4 weeks via Quizlet (20 words per set) by self-directed learning among the six approaches. Their learning records of each method in Quizlet indicated their preferred use. First, they filled out the questionnaire of Vocabulary Learning Strategy (VLS) to report their frequent approaches to vocabulary learning. Each set of 20 words was conducted for a pre-test and an immediate post-test of one-week interval. A final exam, the delayed post-test of one-month interval, contained the total 80 words. At the end of the study, a follow-up interview was conducted to each participant as a case study to be cross referenced with their VLS data, their preferred approach in Quizlet, and their learning achievement in the tests. Preliminary results suggested that students were motivated to use the computer-assisted vocabulary-learning tool, and the game-like Scatter approach was their preference. The in-depth case study sheds light on how EFL young learners can independently approach the task of vocabulary effectively and efficiently.
Neuroscience Key To Maximizing Student Learning and Success: Explicitly Teaching Brain Plasticity and Learner Mindsets
show-and-tell
Neuroscience is the study of our brain and nervous system, and all of its complicated and diverse functions. Over the past few decades, thanks largely in part to improvements in brain-imaging technology, the field of neuroscience has made enormous progress in our knowledge of how the brain works and how we learn. Only recently, however, have such research results from neuroscience gradually begun to trickle down to the domain of education, and be incorporated by teachers in actual classroom learning. In addition, our image and understanding of what human intelligence is and how it develops has been changing as well, and research has shown how we thought and taught in the past may not actually be ideal for our student’s success, our own teaching, and how we think of learning.
This presentation will discuss two areas that are critical for both teachers and students to understand—brain plasticity and lifelong learning, and two kinds of learning mindsets, fixed and growth. Without a solid understanding of these we’re limiting our students’ potential and fostering an environment that may be counter-productive and inefficient for maximized learning.
The Role of Synaptic Pruning in Language Acquisition
show-and-tell
The importance of making neural synaptic connections as well as continued strengthening of these connections through myelination is well understood by those involved in neuro-education. Another very important role in learning involving neural synapses is the need to eliminate synapses that are no longer needed. The brain`s ability to work efficiently requires it to get rid of unused connections. This is known as synaptic pruning.
When learning a language, whether it is a first or other language, the brain must constantly make new connections. In order to use these connections to communicate effectively, the brain strengthens those used to communicate regularly while it disposes of those that are not used. This is directly related to idea of “use it, or lose it”. An example of this is when someone learns to spell an uncommon word for a spelling test when they are young and then never spells the work again until adulthood. The weak synaptic connection was likely pruned for efficiency and the brain will have to re-learn how to spell the word.
This presentation will provide a brief overview of synaptic connections, how they are strengthened, and the way the brain prunes unused connections to work more efficiently. While the brain uses synaptic pruning when learning anything, this presentation will focus on language acquisition in its examples and descriptions. Information shared in this presentation is based on academic journals and neuroscience and neuro-education lectures.
Teaching with Technology – the Oxford Teacher’s Academy online
sponsored
Looking for a professional development course which you can take in your own time, from the comfort of your own home? Join us to find out how the Oxford Teachers’ Academy online offers you a chance to access courses each with around 30 hours of professional development material; providing practical classroom activities and methodology, and offering successful participants the chance to receive a certificate of completion endorsed by the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. During this session, we will be using the new “Teaching with Technology” course to show examples of the engaging, interactive material available.
Bio:
Rob Peacock works at Oxford University Press as a teacher trainer. He has spent many years in Japan teaching students of all ages as well as providing teacher support and workshops.
Needs and Attitudes towards AWE in Thai university English Writing Class
paper
This presentation will discuss the important features of automated writing evaluation (AWE). It will report preliminary findings of the investigation of students and teachers’ needs and attitudes towards the use of AWE software as a supplementary activity in English academic writing class. AWE is typically employed as an assessment tool. However, it can also assist teachers who are unable to provide immediate feedback to learners due to large workloads and large classes. The instruments used in this study include questionnaires and interviews conducted with students and teachers in an English department. The findings can be a starting point in integrating AWE in writing courses in this particular context.
Effects of a Thinking-skills-based Reading Comprehension Method on Standardized English Tests
paper
One of the four cornerstones of English language learning is reading. A measure of English language proficiency, the CEFR-J, suggests that students of lower level English ability should be scoring in the lower third of a level-wide standardized reading comprehension test. The presenter will make the case for a new model of CEFR-J expectations that reflect the impact of cognitive skills that are not being explicitly taught in Japanese junior highs and high schools. This presentation will detail the implementation of the CRC Method, an original reading comprehension teaching method, and resulting test score gains in first and second year university English students. The CRC Method, as described in this presentation, resulted in a thirty percent average increase in reading comprehension scores for basic level English students in both first and second year required English reading and writing class. This presentation will also present preliminary findings for first year intermediate students and second year advanced students where a similar trend in reading comprehension score increases have occurred. Attendees will leave the presentation with a plan for implementation, sample prints to use in their own classroom, and a selection of supplementary activities to encourage student thinking-skills development. By encouraging students to think critically and improve their higher-order thinking skills, a truer measure of English reading comprehension mastery can be revealed. This proposed model reflects a student's truer ability and that shows that all educators in Japan should be expecting more of their students' reading comprehension abilities.
Implementing MBE principles in a fully online Harvard Extension School course
show-and-tell
JALTCALL 2016 plenary speaker, Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, teaches a course at the Harvard Extension School called “The Neuroscience of Learning: An Introduction to Mind, Brain, Health, and Education" which features both synchronous and asynchronous elements. In a clear case of "practicing what they preach", the teaching team implements best practices based on MBE science. This presentation will introduce some of those practices along with reports of the students' reactions to them.
The essence of learning is based on the connected factors of attention and memory. Depending on age, the average attention span lasts between ten and twenty minutes. For various reasons, we often encounter difficulties maintaining student’s attention and recognize the fluctuations in the student’s recall of classroom content soon after teaching. Greater understanding of cognitive processes and teaching approaches applied in the classroom can enable us to better facilitate the learning process. More recently, newly established discoveries from neuroscience and more specifically Mind, Brain and Education Science has been informing education and language teaching and subsequently provided valuable information for teachers and students.
Attention relates to three main systems; orienting, alerting and executive-function (Posner, 2007). Different types of memory circuits include; short, working, long, semantic, declarative and emotional (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2011). In addition sleep, nutrition and movement also have a significant bearing on our student’s learning success. These interrelationships regarding the brain aim to better inform teachers for the benefit of students. The presenter aims to elaborate upon attention, memory and associated factors while participants should be able to apply this knowledge to classroom practices.
Are Musicians More Talented in L2 Phonological Acquisition?
paper
Based on the Critical Period Hypothesis (Lenneberg, 1967), the ideal age of onset learning a target language is suggested to be before the age of seven, since brain plasticity declines once children start to have lateralization. Thus, attaining a native-like pronunciation of a foreign language is considered almost impossible from puberty onwards. However, there are some exceptional adult learners, such as musicians, who seem to acquire near-native pronunciation. Little attention has been given to musical training as a determiner of late L2 learners’ successful phonological acquisition. To fill the gaps in the previous research, the present study aims to investigate whether 1) musical training facilitates for developing more near-native pronunciation and intelligibility among Japanese adult speakers of English and 2) successful speakers’ age of onset playing musical instruments has a correlation with CPH. The results indicated that more musicians outperformed non-musicians in their English speech production rated by native English speaker judges. Additionally, it was revealed that the speakers whose musical training started before eight years old scored higher than those trained after the age eight (excluding one exceptionally outperformed late-starter musician). Overall, onset of learning foreign language is deemed to have a strong link with the previous research findings (Schlaug, Jancke, Huang, Staiger, and Steinmetz, 1995) that the size of anterior in corpus callosum (nervous tissue that connects right and left hemispheres in the brain) was bigger in musicians than non-musicians, particularly amongst players whose onset of musical training were before seven years old.
Creating Interactive Speaking Tasks Online with VoiceThread
show-and-tell
With all of the technology and applications available these days, it can be difficult for teachers to decide how to utilize them for EFL education. This Show and Tell will focus on the basic features of VoiceThread, an online multimedia presentation tool, and explain how to use it to extend EFL courses with asynchronous tasks. We will look at how VoiceThread can allow teachers to utilize rich-media content, implement Project-Based Learning (PBL), and make it easier to streamline assessment. Finally, we will talk about the embedding and sharing tools, to get a better understanding of how to distribute VoiceThreads to students. Overall, this session will discuss the potential uses of VoiceThread as a ProCALL tool to integrate speech, feedback, and multimedia in any EFL course aiming to increase speaking opportunities. If time permits, we will look at how VoiceThread can potentially be used for the speaking section of the TOEFL IBT or similar standardized tests with speaking components.
How to help them speak up: a first step toward a better mix of modalities
paper
How to help EFL students to speak up in English has been a major challenge for the author, who has been teaching non-English majors at a Japanese university. Why is it that CEFR A1 (or even lower) level speaking/writing activities can be so challenging for someone at level A2 to B1 in reading? Years of experience in integrating ICT in language classroom to increase their Willingness to Communicate (WTC) has convinced her to place more focus on fluency training, and also to reconsider when and how to utilize ICT-enhanced activities. As a first step toward a better mix of teaching/learning modalities with focus on fluency, two non-ICT fluency building activities, speaking and writing on paper, were introduced in 2015. They were linked to a communication-oriented textbook, self-access language-focused exercises in Moodle with a progress bar, and in-class language-focused sessions using Quizlet and Kahoot. Although the effect of the speaking fluency activity was not measured quantitatively, it worked well in improving their WTC in class. Also, based on the comparison of their final writing between 2015 and 2012, writing on paper for fluency (2015) can be more helpful in improving their writing in terms of content and speed than blogging for improving their WTC (2012). In this presentation, the two fluency activities and how they were linked to other activities of different modalities will be outlined, and some of the relevant data including student writing data and results from student surveys and interviews will be presented for discussion.
Cultivate more enjoyable and effective communities of learning for your students. This presentation provides a literature review of social psychology studies and neuroscience research findings in a playful and exploratory way. Specific and immediate applications to enhance cooperative classroom practices and training for peer supporters will be presented. In addition, suggestions will be offered on how we, as teachers, can empower students to have more inspiring interactions with their peers.
Whilst generally considered motivational, most game elements added into CALL programs act to reduce the player’s focus on productive learning tasks. Can highly motivational uncertain game elements be integrated effectively alongside the factual certainties required for efficient knowledge inculcation? The presenter will touch on major gamification trends in the education sector today; introduce key aspects of Dr. Paul Howard-Jones’ research into how uncertain rewards can be applied in a learning game, define what uncertain rewards are and demonstrate how they increase the brain’s production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter known to promote motivation, attachment, and memory. The presenter will conclude with examples of simple classroom games that integrate uncertainties, and refer attendees to two free, self-study mobile learning games that do the same.
The Role of Student-Led Social Media Use in Group Dynamics
paper
Motivation in language learning has received a great deal of attention in recent years. However, with increased focus on the needs of the individual, the importance of the whole group has been somewhat overlooked. Similarly, research into technology use in the classroom has been concerned mostly with output and active language learning, evaluated by standard markers of success such as grade achievement and retention of language.
This presentation will draw on original preliminary research to focus exclusively on the social benefits of student-led class LINE (a popular messaging app in Japan) groups in terms of their role in establishing group identities and deepening relationships between students. In this study, the role of student-led LINE groups in relation to group cohesion was investigated by issuing a survey to two compulsory first year English communication classes at separate universities in Japan. Through questions that probed how the app was being used and the effect its presence had on the students' attitude to the class, the study found that the presence of a student created LINE group had a perceived overall positive effect by providing a practical and personal supportive peer network and increasing levels of commitment to the class. These results are linked to ideas of Japanese group identity and suggest that the creation of a student-led class LINE group can be beneficial in terms of establishing a cohesive whole group dynamic.
Student DIY Brain-Friendly classes –even if profs don’t get it
workshop
Ideally, teachers think about how to make their classes brain-friendly. Reality: most don’t. This session will present ways that students can “reframe” their own classes to make them more brain-friendly. In a “fishbowl” format: student interns in the front-middle, teachers watch from the outside. Materials – the PowerPoint, the handouts, etc. will be free downloads so you can share this session (or your own variation) with your own classes. Can we start a revolution? Let’s try.
Teachers implement technology in their language classes to increase learning. While the goal is to have the students engage in more interactive language-learning activities, oftentimes we never get accurate feedback on the effectiveness of such technology. This forum hosts a selection of projects that explore the teachers’ motivations for implementing technical solutions while also featuring students’ reactions and narratives about the language learning experience in these computer-assisted environments.
Neuroscience-based Pedagogy? – Yes, It’s For Real!
workshop
Neuroscience-based pedagogy--it's not a fantasy anymore. This will be a lively, highly interactive session full of theory and practical ideas. Come hear about cutting-edge pedagogical research in neuroELT, then be prepared to be quizzed on it! What will we cover? Learn teaching techniques and approaches that are known to be brain-friendly. Perhaps more importantly, learn about brain 'unfriendly' techniques that we should stop using in the classroom! In this session, we will discuss real world applications of neuro-research, and some highly positive results that have been achieved by simply tweaking normal classroom lessons, based on research. We will focus on both adult and young learner classroom dynamics. Be prepared to join in, and take home lots of great new ideas.
Brushing up Textbooks - Neuroscience Meets Good Practice
show-and-tell
Sometimes you cannot escape, because the textbook is chosen by the faculty. Oh no! What a boring lesson plan! Students are tired just after lunch or it is the last lesson in the afternoon. In that case there is a good remedy, use your skills as a teacher and some knowledge of the brain/neuro science. This may help out for brushing up the textbook, the lesson, and students will learn effectively and be pleased. The combination of good pedagogical practice and findings of the neuroscience is a promising way to promote foreign language teaching (FLT). This presentation will introduce some techniques and exemplify them on textbooks and during the lesson without the need for a lot of preparations. As this has already been used in classroom several times, the feedback of students in their classroom diaries show the outcome and the level of awareness on the side of the students. The base for this presentation are M. Helgesen's 7 neuro rules, Kurt Fischers' dynamic skill theory and the book of Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa on Mind, Brain and Education Science (2011). Bring the most boring textbook and try yourself.
Classroom Movement Benefits for the Brain and Learning
show-and-tell
The physiological needs of learners are highly significant in classroom contexts but are often overlooked by teachers. Essentially, the human body was designed as a mobile entity but regular sitting in classrooms for extensive periods is not conducive to learning as evidenced by typical sleepiness and inattentiveness. According to Sousa (2011) blood circulation decreases as we sit for more than twenty minutes but if we get up and move around after only one minute, a fifteen percent improvement in blood recirculation occurs, which carries the all-important brain fuel, oxygen. The positive link between physical movement and learning is supported by neuroscience and according to Erikson et al., (2011) a brain that is well oxygenated can pay better attention than a brain deprived of oxygen. Tokuhama-Espinosa (2011) also supports this notion, claiming that improved oxygenation enables better memory and longer attention spans, while “brain breaks” refresh the mind with a shift in focus. Furthermore, laughter and humor also enable greater oxygenation to the brain in addition to the release of brain-friendly endorphins. Considering attention and memory are key components to learning, integrating timely and simple movement-related EFL activities can support cognitive function. The presenter aims to outline such tasks, in addition to enabling participants to experience brief oxygen-generating activities.
Academic writing is a notoriously difficult genre for both native and non-native speakers. Failure to meet the expectations of the discourse community (e.g. teachers, reviewers) is likely to result in low grades for students and rejection letters for researchers. There are a multitude of implicit codes to adhere to, which novice writers may not be fully aware of. Writers face a multitude of problems when planning, drafting, editing and proof-reading. Although there are numerous websites and books designed to assist novice writers, putting into action the prescriptive advice is not always straightforward. A case in point is the difficulty in proofreading the latest draft of a paper or essay displayed on the screen. The memory of multiple earlier versions tends to impair the ability to notice even simple errors in the latest version. The generic advice of proofreading before submitting is simple to suggest, but an onerous task, particularly so when English is an additional language. A hack to circumvent this screen-memory interference issue is the use of text-to-speech engines to read the text aloud and proof-listen rather than proofread. This paper showcases ten innovative hacks that undergraduates, postgraduates and professors can harness to solve or ameliorate common problems. These hacks have been tried and tested by hundreds of students and researchers in Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan.
Students love making videos, but live-action video projects can be cumbersome and resource intensive. Using Web 2.0 online editing tools to create animated videos from still images is a simple and engaging alternative. In this workshop, participants will learn the basics of online video editing using WeVideo, a "free" online video editing platform, to create an animated storyboard video. The advantage of using Web 2.0 tools is that they work on any computer with an internet connection. This also allows work on projects from home or from a mobile device. This technique is perfect for project-based and task-based learning, as well as narrated presentations and reports.
The Value of RefME: Support for Habituating Japanese Undergraduate Students to Citation and Referencing
paper
Research has shown that many Japanese university students see plagiarism as inappropriate and believe in the importance of citation and referencing (Teeter, 2015; Wheeler, 2006, 2009, 2015). However, many still commit the offense as a result of certain factors. According to Rinnert & Kobayashi (2005) and Sadoshima (2014), students plagiarise because they lack L2 skills and have little to no instructional training in L1 writing on how to back ideas, quote and paraphrase. Moreover, they argue that there is often student confusion over what constitutes as one’s own knowledge and common knowledge as opposed to others’ ideas and the borrowing of them. Yet, other factors such as the daunting number of reference systems available, subsequent student indecision over which to use and a lack of awareness that they inevitably have a choice appear as equally important. Consequently, this presentation will initially introduce the app RefME as technology that was used to support one small seminar of 14 Japanese university students in their efforts to cite and reference in their undergraduate dissertation writing. Thereafter, attention will be turned to an evaluation of the app and how it was found to be valuable in helping students to form the habit of citing and referencing others’ work despite criticisms of it further promoting academic indolence via education technology (Bignell, 2014; Samuelson, 2014).
Effects on Online Apprenticeship Projects in a University English Class
paper
Across cultures, from time immemorial, knowledge has been passed down through the tradition of apprenticeship. In higher education, formal and informal apprenticeship occurs as senior students pass down tips on how to survive college life.
This study, stimulated by Cognitive Apprenticeship (Collins, 2006), examines the impact of a structured, online inter-student apprenticeship model in a university context. In this study, senior students provide freshmen with advice for English language learning. The study focuses on the impact of the model on the new students (the "apprentices") and the senior students.
The apprenticeship instructional information (seniors' study advice) is divided into 10 programs and presented to the freshmen in online video format. Content includes tips re test taking (e.g., IELTS, TOEIC, TOEFL), university life, study abroad and English self-study. The programs are presented in English, and each is a few minutes in length. The LMS also has an online community, facilitating Q&A exchanges between students. As a part of the study structure, the freshmen are informed that the seniors are 10 Japanese students who achieved top scores when they were freshmen.
The conference presentation will convey the structure of the study and analyze the results, including an analysis of the future university implications of structured online inter-student apprenticeship. Study results may indicate a new potential mechanism for improving student performance, or possibly a new method for reaching out to socially isolated students.
This presentation documents the first stage of a larger, multi-year project examining the long-term impact of online inter-student apprenticeship.
Online Collaborative Environments for Writing Classes
workshop
Google Docs is a great online pair and group collaboration tool for students and teachers. The collaboration environment is its most obvious feature. For writing classes, however, there are several other features that are beneficial for providing error correction. One of these features allows students and teachers to add and reply to comments of selected text. Another feature is "revision history." This feature allows students and teachers to view changes to a document over the course of a project specifically with who, what and when a document was edited. For evaluation, this feature helps teachers track how much effort students put into their pair or group projects. All in all, these are very useful tools for feedback and error correction. However, using Google Docs in a writing class presents a few major problems. It takes more time to edit essays in Google Docs than using paper. It can take up to two or three times longer. It also requires an excessive amount of mouse clicks, which for some teachers is not healthy. Also, there is a steep learning curve for students who have never used Google Docs. Therefore, in this presentation, participants will learn how to set up Google Docs in a class for pair and group work and how to provide feedback to writing projects more quickly and safely using a variety of 3rd party applications for the Mac computer. Finally, participants will be provided with the links and instructional videos for setting up this system.
Using TPACK Framework and PBLL to Improve the Willingness to Communicate of EFL Students
paper
Willingness to Communicate of Japanese students in EFL programs is affected by a lack of content relevance and misapplication of some language teaching methodologies. This study used TPACK framework with a Project-Based Language Learning in order to improve learning motivation and content relevance, and also reduce learning anxiety. In this study, students were grouped into pairs to conduct fieldwork activities on their chosen topics and learned the English language that was suitable for describing their activities and findings. They interacted with content and peers through Web 2.0 environments. In the classroom, they engaged in communicative tasks which were facilitated by the instructor, and also presented their projects where their peers used an online rubric and forum to give them feedback. They also participated in a speech contest with peers outside their class or from another university in order to broaden their confidence. Findings from this study show that students were able to develop the language and evaluation skills for presentation. Additionally, they indicated a reduction in communication anxiety.
From E-language to I-language: Insights from Corpus and Cognitive Linguistics on the Mental Lexicon
show-and-tell
This presentation will give a short introduction to theories of language from corpus and cognitive linguistic perspectives, which oppose the grammar + dictionary view of language, in favour of context-dependent word meanings and grammar patterns. I will review recent books by Patrick Hanks, John Taylor and Vyvyan Evans, in particular, who all advocate similar theories of the nature of the mental lexicon. These authors argue that word meanings emerge from usage events, rather than being a stable property of words. In this way words take meaning from their context of use (both linguistic and the wider interactional situation), accessing different aspects of conceptual knowledge in each usage event. This gives rise to the fuzziness of language, at a lexico-grammatical level, which is seen as an essential feature of natural language. As a result, native speakers learn and use grammar patterns (constructions) in a probabilistic, statistical manner, together with the words that preferentially appear in them; they do not learn grammatical rules, nor are constructions learned or used independently of lexis. I will finish by briefly considering the implications of these theories for foreign language learning.
A number of studies have found text-based chat to be an efficient and effective medium for language learning (e.g., Payne & Whitney, 2002; Sauro & Smith, 2010). Text chat blends characteristics of both speaking and writing, allowing students to improve their second language skills in a low-anxiety yet motivating manner. Newer chat applications created with language learners in mind can be even more helpful and convenient. This presentation reports the results of an exploratory study examining the potential of language exchange mobile app HelloTalk for improving students’ English ability. After being trained in how to use the app and how to respond to their interlocutor’s feedback, students spent time interacting with their teacher using the application. Records of the chat conversations were analyzed, and students were given simple individualized posttests to determine how well they retained the language they encountered during the experiment. Results indicate that features of the app made feedback more salient for the student participants. Comments from student interviews will be shared in this presentation, and benefits and drawbacks to the HelloTalk mobile app will be discussed. Practical suggestions for language teachers interested in using the app in the language classroom or private lessons will be given.
Can Learning Engagement be Virtually Boosted? The Role of Social Presence in EFL Blended Learning Context.
paper
Online community of practice environments, due to their social collaboration features, are well suited to promote students’ motivation and engagement. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of using a Facebook group with a course-related identity in supplementing regular college-level EFL lessons, particularly emphasizing on the potential significance of social presence in blended learning context. Specifically, it is estimated that both students’ level of involvement in the online tasks and instructors’ practice of teaching presence from the online community of practice would extend the regular classroom instruction, thereby facilitating students’ engagement and motivation in learning. 67 intermediate-level EFL students from 11 majors were recruited in this study. Different systematic approaches such as the completion of online reading-writing assignment, the frequency and pattern of interpersonal interactions between the learners and instructors, and a questionnaire survey were adopted to measure the scope of “student engagement” and the “social connectedness” features respectively. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to acquire a better understanding of the relationship between social presence, engagement level and class performance. Results indicate that students’ perceived social presence was positively related to their level of learning engagement and class performance. Furthermore, this study verified the fact that in addition to teacher’s facilitating role in the enhancement of social presence, learners’ L2 motivational self system also could be one of the gateways to active learning. Overall, the results provide valuable insights into how social presence can be developed in online learning community to motivate students and enhance their learning engagement.
Keywords: Learning Engagement, Social Presence, L2 Motivational Self System
New Ways to Use Online Tools for More Accurate Vocabulary
workshop
As English learners reach high-intermediate and advanced levels, they are confronted with increasingly complex writing tasks, and the need to summarize, paraphrase and express novel ideas can require the use of unfamiliar words. This leads to a common problem. Even when students are familiar with some online tools for making word choices, they often lack the knowledge of how to use them well, resulting in frequent errors. This hands-on workshop will introduce participants to new teaching strategies using online tools such as corpora, thesauruses, image databases and dictionaries. The presenter will explain how these tools can be used together for greater accuracy in student vocabulary use though a simple, step-by-step process. Learning how to use these tools will, in turn, help students to become more autonomous. Each tool will be presented along with specific exercises on how to use it alone and in conjunction with the others. Participants will leave ready to teach interactive vocabulary workshops in their own classes using these online tools. Detailed handouts with links, exercises and ideas for tailoring the materials to different levels and populations will be provided.
Beyond the traditional EFL classes: The use of e-Books and audiobooks in the blended teaching
show-and-tell
An increasing number of language educators are taking a blended approach to their teaching in order to enhance students' learning experiences and outcomes. Online tools have rapidly become a valuable resource for course delivery and assessment. ICT technologies have made it more feasible than ever to implement a flipped classroom approach, in the blended teaching. This paper reports on almost a decade long action research of mine, with many trials and errors, on adopting e-Books and audiobooks as online assignments for Japanese EFL classes on a university level. It will introduce the rationale for the projects and syllabus designs, and the findings of students' perceptions of the online assignments. Still not many language teachers are aggressive enough to use e-Books and audio books in their teaching. This presentation discusses a number of reasons and obstacles that hinder easy and smooth adaptation of e-Books and audio books in syllabi. I shall then share a few successful ways that would help ease up anxieties in course delivery and assessment by teachers, so that we can encourage autonomous learning on the part of learners, and possibly implement the authorship learning mode even in language teaching.
Cell phones and tablets are changing the way we access information and entertainment. The use of these devices influences our posture and body mechanics in unhealthy ways that contribute to neck, upper back, shoulder, and arm pain. How do students (young healthy people) perceive their usage and how can we teach them good practice?
This presentation shows results of a survey on computer vision syndrome and student perceptions of CALL.
Knowing how the brain works is the first step towards becoming a better teacher, but it requires the second step as well: knowing how to apply this knowledge to designing lessons. Let's look at some critical factors of learning and discuss how to weave them into your lessons, whether that means modifying textbook activities, or writing your own. The key factors include attention, deep processing, spaced repetition, brain compatibility, the human factor, and most important, meaningfulness. Using these allows you to stimulate the reticular activation system and cause the release of learning-related neurotransmitters. Spaced repetition, for example, taking a one-hour class and separating it into to 30-minute sessions, has been shown to increase retention by up to 100%!
Integrating e-Written Homework Assignments (Asynchronous Tasks) into a F2F Discussion Curriculum: Does it Enhance L2 Cognitive Processing?
paper
Technology in the 21st century has provided the world with a seemingly dizzying array of forms and forums for having extended and globally interactive discussions of individual ideas. This presentation examines the impact that posting e-written homework assignments (e-WHA) to a university's English Discussion Center (EDC) website (asynchronous tasks) can have on learners' cognitive processing of L2 input + noticing + output, as they prepare for a face to face (F2F) small group discussion.
More specifically, the presentation considers e-writing as a tool to enhance noticing (Schmidt, 1990) of L2 discourse functions as well as an opportunity for meta-linguistic self-reflection (Swain, 1985) as learners respond to (e-WHA) F2F discussion topic test questions. Moreover, does submitting e-WHA to a more public forum, such as the EDC website, encourage learners "to think [more] critically and post carefully prepared responses… with a focus on both form and meaning" (Sotillo, 2000)?
The presentation will also show the results of a survey asking learners (n=99) to evaluate the e-WHA experience for: 1) Degree of difficulty in independently preparing and submitting homework via computer-online (e-task); 2) Usefulness of writing (w-task) in a F2F discussion class; and to 3) Compare-contrast the e-WHA (productive skill) with reading homework assignments (receptive skill). In addition, the presentation will further consider the results of the survey in terms of the learners’ English proficiency, and academic major to determine if a particular group of learners had a more or less favorable view (value) of the e-WHA experience.
What can Mind Brain and Education (MBE) principles teach us about the way we conduct short-term Study Abroad programmes? Do such programmes already set up the conditions for optimal (brain-friendly) learning of culture and language? Or can they easily be modified to include such conditions?
The presenter will address these questions with reference to principles of learning established by MBE researchers. As MBE is a relatively young and volatile field, the presenter will focus on those principles identified by Tokuhama-Espinosa (2011) as being "well established." Since MBE usually focuses on classroom-based teaching and learning, an attempt will be made to extend the scope of these principles to the kind of opportunistic, experiential, learning-in-the community that is typical of short-term Study Abroad programmes.
The presentation will be exploratory in nature, its conclusions tentative and suggestive. It is hoped that participants will share their insights and establish a dialogue on this topic.
Developing Listening Comprehension of EFL Low-achieving Learners through Cartoons in a Taiwan Elementary School
paper
The purpose of the study aims to increase low-achieving elementary school students’ listening comprehension through authentic materials on the Internet, thereby enhancing their learning motivation and sense of achievement.Twenty four Taiwanese elementary students attending English remedial program from an elementary school in Ilan are recruited in the present study. Several previous studies stated that cartoons as authentic materials are appropriate for beginners. While using cartoons as teaching material, students also receive three different types of listening support which are repeated listening, question review and vocabulary instruction. Narrative inquiry is the main method of data collection. Data collections are through questionnaire survey, pre-posttest design, class observation, students’ journal and interview. For test, English listening pre-test are used to examine students’ listening proficiency and English listening post-test are used to see the effects of cartoons on their listening performance. Also, all students write their own journal, including learning reflection, feelings and something they learn from the class after every class. Then, the researcher interviews ten students to see their sense of achievement and motivation. The findings show that participants enhance listening comprehension and their learning motivation. Moreover, students can learn everywhere by themselves. Finally, the outcomes are likely to provide implications for the English teaching.
Email, Mobile Web Site, and a Mobile APP – Which is Most Liked by Students for Reading and Grammar?
paper
Shimane University and Nagoya Women’s University conducted a joint project to develop student reading and grammar skills by sending relevant materials to students’ mobile phones by email. Meanwhile, the same materials were uploaded to a web site designed for mobile devices, and a mobile app was developed for both iPhone/iPad and Android so that learners could view the same content in one of three ways. When students have the above choices, i.e., email, Mobile Web Site, and a Mobile App, which form of access do they prefer and why? In order to answer these questions, 160 first year university students with an average TOEIC score of 550 were surveyed. This presentation will present the data we collected to find out which tool is most liked by students and most effective for them.
Incorporating Google Hangout into a Course
It's a daunting challenge to incorporate Google Hangout into a lesson that all students could experience. Sufficient bandwidth and availability of a webcam exemplifies such obstacles. This presentation assumes the availability of a computer room and one or more personal devices, such as the smartphone. The presenter explains how certain speaking tasks could include experience with Hangout in a manner that certainty of the technological results is more assured. The presenter draws from the experience of an integrative English course in a computer room in which a mix of skills are required to use the technology to accomplish projects. Missing from the instruction in previous years has been a video conferencing component. Proper planning and rotating the experience in an unencumbered manner helps minimize the pitfalls. As such, students get a better sense of English communication face to face and at a distance simultaneously. The presenter makes no claims that the Google Hangout experience improves fluency more than a regular conversation activity. But it does advance one of the key goals of the course: "to further develop the four language and technology skills that then transfer to the workplace." Meanwhile, the topic becomes incorporated into the course as one of several. In turn, "workplace" represents a topic of noteworthy value in a class that includes conversation. As such, the video conferencing experience helps accentuate the topic.