Developing Multiliteracies through CMC: Lifelong language learning at the University of Siena

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Developing Multiliteracies through CMCLifelong
language learning at the University of Siena
Università degli Studi di Siena
Linda Mesh

• Eurocall CMC - SIG Event
• Padova, 17-19 April 2008

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Overview

• Literacy research and Multiliteracies
• Considerations regarding lifelong language
  learning
• Blended courses for adult learners at the Siena
  University Language Centre

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Joint roles of language and technology in
communication

• Communicative competence the interactive
  process in which meanings are produced
  dynamically between information technology and
  the world in which we live (Rassool, 1999)
• Social practice literacy studies take a social
  practice perspective focusing on
• What people do with language through technology
• How technology affects the nature of literacy
  required for language use with different
  technologies

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Multiple literacies

• New approaches to literacy teaching and learning
  suggest that it is more useful to break literacy
  down in multiple literacy modes
• each mode has distinctive characteristics that
  demonstrate a variety of social purposes
• Technology literacy
• Information literacy
• Visual literacy
• Media literacy
• The features of each type may overlap
• (Tyner, 1998)
• Multiple literacies involve the characteristics
  of web symbols, icons, fixed and moving images,
  mixtures of languages and specialized discourse

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Technology an integral part of communication

• In many important situations, those who are not
  competent in using technology are not competent
  in communication.
• (Bruce and Hogan, 1998)
• In todays world, the literacy skills needed are
  qualitatively different from those necessary in
  literate life that does not involve technology.
• Warschauer describes new language and literacy
  skills needed for communication, such as
• Reading / research
• Writing / authorship
• (Warschauer, 2000)

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New strategies for lifelong learning and literacy

• Promote peer interaction online in a mutually
  supportive climate for
• testing ideas
• expressing opinions
• requesting and offering help
• collaborative learning within a group
• more reflective learning through peer-critique
  and feedback on practice and performance

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Online interaction

• One particularly interesting study explored the
  role of CMC as a medium for peer writing
  feedback, in comparison to face-to-face
  interaction.
• Foreign language students receiving
  computer-mediated feedback made more detailed
  revisions in their writing, whereas those
  receiving oral feedback made more global changes
  ( Schultz, 2000)
• CMC discussion resulted in
• more complex language use than face-to-face
  discussion
• More equal participation
• Language learning using noticing and use of
  linguistic chunks
• Increase in willingness to communicate
• CMC interaction depends on the teachers beliefs
  and approaches, as well as the type of software
  tool chosen.
• (Warschauer, 2003 Campton, 2004 MacIntyre,
  1998)

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Willingness to communicate

• The concept of willingness to communicate was
  developed from research on individual differences
  in SLA.
• Social, psychological and situational factors
  seem to enter into willingness to communicate.
• Situation specific anxiety and lack of
  self-confidence diminishes opportunities for
  participating in beneficial interaction.
• Asynchronous forum discussion activities may
  provide opportunities for discourse development
  in L2 and also increase willingness to
  communicate in normally timid students, due to
  the relatively anonymous feeling of online
  identity and the extended time available for
  expressing ideas.

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The nature of adult learners

• What affects their success?
• While children trust the teacher to define course
  content, adults need to define it for themselves,
  or at least to be persuaded that it is relevant
  to their needs.
• While children accept a dependent relationship
  with a teacher, adults have a sense of
  self-direction and personal responsibility.
• Adults have a wide range of personal experiences
  to draw on, which they appreciate being used as a
  learning resource, and resent being ignored in
  favour of other peoples experiences.
• For adults the future is now they have a basis
  of information and see learning as necessary for
  solving problems in the present.
• Children may need external motivation to make
  them learn adults volunteer to learn because of
  their intrinsic motivation.
• Knowles theory of andragogy, 1978

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Modulo A1 elementary level
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Learner attitudes and learner support

• Adults experience anxiety about learning, about
  the ability to meet expectations, both external
  and self-expectations. Otherwise known as the
  fear of failure.
• Inexperienced learners may have a high degree of
  anxiety when using new technologies, which may
  become apparent when they have to turn in the
  first written assignment or forum message.
• Support strategies
• Risk-taking should be approved
• The workload and goals of the course should be
  realistic
• Adults who learn enjoy learning
• adults who enjoy learning learn.
• Enjoyment is a sign of high motivation.

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Language learning support learning to learn

• A blended course should provide
• information that is up-to-date and well organised
  
• clear learning objectives for each element of the
  blend with advice on how to be successful
• courses that are flexible and accommodate
  different learning styles
• guidance on time management and study skills
• opportunities to do something with what they
  learn (e.g., assignments, projects)
• feedback on their work and progress
• Appropriate assessment to promote more autonomous
  learning, both formative and summative.

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The CLA and lifelong learning

• What is a learning organisation?
• One where training and personal development are
  an integral part of the organisation
• where learning is a continuous process, rather
  than being an added-on activity at various points
  in an individuals career.
• where there is a coherent strategy which centres
  on exploring and facilitating a link between the
  development of the organisation and the personal
  development of the staff.

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University of Siena Language CentreCMC
Computer mediated communication and Multimodal
literacy What people do with language through
technology
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Collaboration between the CLA Siena and the
gt Ufficio Formazione del Personale
gt Azienda Ospedaliera Univ. Senese

• Blended general English and
• English for the health professions
• a flexible and accessible means for lifelong
  learning for university technical and
  administrative personnel
• courses are offered in easily digestible,
  eight-week modules from zero beginner to CEFR
  B1
• the program offers more than simply filling
  short-term skills gaps
• instead adults are actively engaged in learning
  to learn a language in innovative ways aimed at
  more active learning.
• Common European Framework of Reference for
  Languages

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Course Organisation

• Level A blended 96 ore
• Modulo A-zero (40 ore, lezioni in aula 4 forum
  online)
• esame scritto del modulo A0
• Modulo A1 blended (32 ore 16 ore f2f 16 ore
  online)
• esame scritto del modulo A1
• Modulo A2 blended (32 ore, 8 settimane) CEFR A2
• esame scritto ed orale del Livello A (A0 A1
  A2)
• Level B blended 64 ore
• Modulo B1 (32 ore, 8 settimane)
• esame scritto del modulo B1
• Modulo B2 (32 ore, 8 settimane)
• esame scritto ed orale del Livello B (B1 B2)
• Level C blended 64 ore
• Modulo C1 (32 ore, 8 settimane)
• esame scritto del modulo C1
• Modulo C2 (32 ore, 8 settimane) CEFR B1
• esame scritto ed orale del Livello C (C1 C2)

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(No Transcript)
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Beginner to level CEFR A2
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Modules B1 and B2, C1 and C2
8o lezione esame scritto del modulo B1 Reading,
Writing, Listening
8o lezione esame scritto ed orale del livello B
(B1 e B2) Reading, Writing, Listening Speaking
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Learning Expectations

• Many students have misconceptions about online
  learning that should be adjusted. For example
• Online courses are easier than conventional
  classes and require less work. When they
  discover that this is not the case and that the
  opposite is true, they may become discouraged.
• An online course will be of lesser quality than
  a classroom offering.
• Students frequently do not understand that they
  must take more responsibility for their learning
  in a blended course and not wait for the
  instructor or tutor to take the lead.
• For these reasons it is very useful to include an
  orientation workshop at the beginning of a
  blended course.

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Beginners Module A0 - f2f, Modules - A1, A2
blended
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Collaborative discourse production

• The classroom is integrated with online task
  based learning for increased discourse
  production
• The online teacher provides models of the target
  language presented
• dual modes provide greater opportunities for
  language production in various forms speaking /
  writing
• students use a wide variety of discourse
  structures in electronic discussions and may take
  a more active role in discourse management than
  in the classroom (Chun)
• learners have a choice as to who they seek out
  for help, matching learning styles with teaching
  styles
• socio-cultural aspects of collaborative language
  learning facilitate increased progress and
  encourage the development of autonomous learning
  habits

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A lesson map with progress check
I can statements
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Journal My first week online
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Module C2 forum discussion activity
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Correcting and Marking

• To correct or not correct?
• Establish a set of guidelines for doing
  corrections
• Some errors are learning steps, students arent
  afraid to express themselves even if the language
  used is incorrect or because they are unaware of
  the right expression
• (Bowen and Marks 1994)

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Forum writing activities / peer corrections
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Peer corrections and assessment
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Students edit wiki by inserting corrections
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Tutor gives final feedback on students
corrections
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Would you like to learn English for your job?
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Would you like to learn English so you canpass
the final exam?
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Student feedbackWhat part of the course helped
you learn the most?
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The classroom and online lessons were most useful
for improving
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Course Overview

• CLA blended English courses offered from January
  2006 to March 2008 for university personnel
• age group 25 to 55 years, average age 35-45
• a total of 32 modules have been completed for
  approximately 600 total participants
• CLA certificate for successful course completion

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End of course feedback

• Through a questionnaire we have collected a
  variety of responses from Modules A2, B2 and C2
  which are finishing lessons in June.
• Cosa ti ha aiutato di piu nellapprendimento?
• Sforzarmi di scrivere ed esprimermi in inglese
• scrivere nel forum
• conversazione in classe e Londra!
• il confronto con gli altri e lessere costretta
  a osare senza vergogna
• organizzazione degli argomenti trattati
• lavoro di gruppo
• la costanza
• il mio tutor
• la varietà
• sia le lezioni frontali che quelle online
• Quali difficoltà comportava il blended learning?
• mancanza di tempo
• lascolto e la comprensione
• non sempre sono riuscita a fare gli esercizi
  online
• tenere il passo con gli altri

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Student feedback online activities
Im very happy to study English online. This
week I have spent a lot of time on this site to
read a lot of lessons and information and I have
been surprised because this is, from my point of
view, the best mode to study this language.
Through the computer and internet, it is easier
because we are accustomed to use the computer
every day. It is interesting and less boring than
studying from books. The biggest advantage is the
direct exchange of ideas with the other students.
Create an online discourse culture
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Creating a professional learning communitySee
you online!
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References

• Compton, L. (2004) From Chatting to Oral
  Fluency Using chat to improve self-confidence
  and increase willingness to communicate, IATEFL
  Poland, Teaching English with Technology, ISSN
  1642-1027, Vol. 4, Issue 1, January, 2004.
  Available from http//www.iatefl.org.pl/call/j_so
  ft16.htmcompton
• Hughes, J., (2000) The Learning Organisation,
  Part 1, CLMS Working Paper 29, University of
  Leicester. December. Available from
  http//www.clms.le.ac.uk/publications/workingpaper
  s/working_paper29.pdf
• Knowles, M., (1978) The Adult Learner, Gulf
  Publishing, Houston, TX, 1978.
• MacIntyre, P. D., Clément, R., Dörnyei, Z.,
  Noels, K. A. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness
  to communicate in a L2 a situational model of L2
  confidence and affiliation, Modern Language
  Journal, 82, pp. 545-562.
• Matsudu, P., Canagarajah, A., Harklau, L.,
  Highland, K.,Warschauer, M. (2003) Changing
  Currents in Second Language Writing Research a
  colloquium, Journal of Second Language Writing,
  122, pp 151-179.
• Mesh, L., Zanca, C., (2005) WebLingu_at_ blended
  English language learning, Journal of e-Learning
  and Knowledge Society, Edizioni Erickson, Vol. 1,
  n.2, July, pp.259-270.
• Pica, T., (1996) Second language learning
  through interaction Multiple perspectives.
  Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, vol.
  12, no. 2, pp. 1-22.
• Schultz, J. (2000). Computers and collaborative
  writing in the foreign language curriculum. In M.
  Warschauer R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based
  language teaching Concepts and practice.
  Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press.
• Tyner, K. (1998) Literacy in a Digital World
  Teaching and learning in the age of information,
  Mahwah, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Links
• CLA Siena Online http//moodle.lett.unisi.it/
• Moodle http//moodle.org/
• e-mail mesh_at_unisi.it