????????????? Desktop Videoconference for Intercultural Exchanges

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?????????????Desktop Videoconference for
Intercultural Exchanges

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Outline

• Background
• Purposes
• Methodology
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion

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Background

• Many projects mainly involved the use of written
  technologies
• Bowman Plaisir, 1996 Cifuentes Shih, 2001
  Davis Chang, 1994/94 Kamhi-Stein, 1997 Soh
  Soon, 1991
• Use DVC to assist practice of not only text-based
  but also oral communication
• DVC helps to generate higher student involvement
  in learning and interaction with others (Kliger,
  2002)
• Similar projects in Taiwan
• CFL via DVC (Hsin, 1997)
• CFL via IVC (Hsin, 1999)
• Medical education (Chen et al., 1998)

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Purposes of the Study

• Understand the Taiwanese EFL learners
  perceptions of practicing English language skills
  with Non-native speakers through DVC
• Identify issues evolved in the connections and
  online intercultural communication

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Method

• Participants
• 32 Taiwanese
• Taking Computer-Assisted Instruction
• 38 Japanese
• Taking Digital Culture

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Preparation

• Instructors trial connections (PC vs. Mac)
• Shared digital photos
• Learned MS Messenger iVisit v2.6 b7
• Watched Learn Live by George Lucas Educational
  Foundation
• Read papers on intercultural learning teaching
• Talked about netiquette and applications on WWW
  board

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Teacher-coordinators trial connection
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Students practice using NetMeeting Whiteboard
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Connection

• Web-board connections three DVC connections
• Completed worksheets in DVC (included topics of
  Digital divide eWorld job technology)

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Students connection using iVisit
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Data Collection Analysis

• Data
• Post-connection survey
• Chat records on DVC
• Researchers observation notes
• Participants reflective paper
• Interview transcripts
• QSR Nvivo 2.0 (Non-numerical Unstructured Data
  Indexing Searching and Theorizing)

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Results (1)

• Perceptions
• Enjoyed text chats (M 3.89, SD 0.87) DVC (M
  3.29, SD 0.76)
• Inspired to use chats (M 4.14, SD 0.59) and DVC
  (M 3.54 SD 0.88) on their own
• Felt chats (M 3.86, SD 1.11) and DVC (M 3.54
  SD 1.07) are positive in EFL
• Did not plan to incorporate their own CAI project
  (chats M 2.68 SD 0.98 DVC M 2.46 SD
  0.84 )
• Need of visual needs? (M 2.29 SD 1.08)
  qualitative data showed counter comments

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Results (2)

• Gains
• externalizing English language
• collaborated to solve problems
• became acquainted with distance technologies
• exercised self-thinking and self-reflection

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Results (3)

• Ten communication strategies
• Opening
• repeated questioning
• reassuring questioning (e.g., are you alright?)
• reassuring statement
• compliments
• revisions to spelling or grammar errors
• requests
• emoticons uses
• interruptions repair
• closure

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Results (4)

• Problematic areas
• turn-taking problems
• un-notified topic shifts
• Intercultural communication
• Japanese were more task-oriented while the
  Taiwanese were more social-oriented

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Discussion (1)

• Taiwanese felt they were not ready to take full
  DL or implement DVC into CALL projects
• It is hard for learners to use this medium since
  its quite new (Zahner, Fauverge, and Wong, 2000)
  
• Taiwanese felt DVC did not represent F2F meetings
  
• This is opposite to Kliger (2002) study
• F2f communicators are more likely to discuss
  social issues DVC learners wont (Hearnshaw,
  2000)

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Discussion (2)

• Participation in multiple-sites DVC showed
  turn-taking problems
• Firestones (1999) study showed activity
  completion were just as effective as F2F
• More proficient Taiwanese learners assisted
  Japanese participants language output
• The instructor should work with participants on
  their chat logs later on (Toyoda and Harrison,
  2002)

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Discussion (3)

• Japanese were more task-oriented Taiwanese were
  more social-oriented
• Japanese participants were less proficient in
  English
• Future improvement
• Connection speed and audio problems
• Instructors should offer topics for discussion
  only, or
• Instructors should give out work sheets in advance

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Conclusion

• Instructors should provide opportunities for DVC
  connections with native speakers or even
  non-native speakers
• Language majors need to experience multiple ways
  of learning
• Network-based exchange goes beyond
  teacher-learner contacts
• Limitations that participants encountered in this
  project bandwidth number of web-cams
• Other software Macromedia Breeze JoinNet

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Thank you!Suggestions please emaildshih_at_mails.
fju.edu.tw