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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY

2013-01-07T20:32:00.003-08:00

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS

AND DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY

Preface

As Kathryn Schultz explains in her short essay The Pessimistic Meta-induction from the History of Science, “Because so many scientific theories from bygone eras have turned out to be wrong, we must assume that most of today’s theories will eventually prove incorrect as well.” Knowledge creators realize “that they are part of a long process of approximation. They know they are constructing models rather than revealing reality.” (Schultz, K. in Brockman, J., ed., 2012, p. 30) David Deutsch describes this phenomenon as “emergence.” He states “The partial success of each theory in a sequence of improving theories is tantamount to the existence of a ‘layer’ of phenomena that each theory explains successfully – though, as it then turns out, partly mistakenly.” (Deutsch, 2011, p. 111). He continues to explain: “With the hindsight provided by each successive theory, we can see not only where the previous theory made false predictions, but also that wherever it made true predictions this was because it had expressed some truth about reality.” In consideration of this, any conclusions presented here are given not as absolute truths, but rather, come with the understanding that knowledge creation is process of gradual accumulation, and are to be viewed as intermediary steps on the path towards a more perfect understanding.

Additionally, because the nature of ethnographic study is to produce “thick” detailed description of a single case study, and not broad, generalizable data, the conclusions drawn here relate only to this particular case study, although some of the patterns identified may have reach beyond its own confines. As reach is defined as “The ability of some explanations to solve problems beyond those that they were created to solve” (Deutsch, 2011, p. 30), it may be the burden of future studies to demonstrate which of these patterns do have reach, and under what circumstances.

5.1 Conclusion

Within the tradition of ethnographic research, conclusions arise at three levels: item level, pattern level, and structural level. (LeCompte & Schensul, 1999, pp. 151 – 5) Initial item level conclusions were reached early on in the literature review of this study, and served to provide the frameworks used for analyzing data. Additional items emerged during the course of the research as the sum of individual Internet-mediated activities performed, both those reported in the ethnography, and by language learners through surveys and interviews. At the pattern level, themes, typically those matching individual activities with the framework codes indicating (affective and learning) elements they comprise, arise. An example would be the observation that blogging offers opportunity for L2 output, while also generating agency in the sense in which Gee uses the word, as ‘a real sense of ownership over what they are doing.’ Finally, the structural level of analysis provides “the entire picture.” While the first level of analysis has been well explored in Chapter Four, Results and Discussion, the latter two levels of analysis point towards and are therefore detailed in the following section 5.2, Implications for Learning. First, however, let us re-examine our research questions:

1. Firstly, from the emic perspective, in the process of non-instructed, Internet-mediated L2 activity, what activities enable agency [H1] and best encapsulate the elements of both play and positive affect while leading to L2 acquisition? ‘Internet-mediated L2 activities’ includes a broad spectrum of modalities available for L2 activity on the Internet, ranging from chat to blogging, games, and others, as will be discussed further in the literature review portion of this document. The focus here is both on gaining insights into the mechanisms of the technology and the user experience of such technologies. [H2]

Based upon all aspects of the research performed, it is clear that those activities which most enable or elicit the experience of agency depend first and foremost on the individual learner. Considering that agency is intertwined with volition, each learner has their own personal set of priorities, likes, and dislikes. Therefore, I can only speak to those activities which enabled agency for me, while eliciting play and positive affect, and of those reported by other learners. For myself, activities which came to the forefront were: chatting, writing blog posts, pursuing directed activities, and engaging with videos. Those which did not match up were games, virtual environments, and listening and reading activities. With the exception of writing blog posts, I found the same was true for the majority of learners of both English and Thai. And, for all learners, without exception, chatting online in one’s second language stands out as the single most activity to generate agency while engaging learners in a meaning-focused flow experience. Because of the centrality of the social element in chatting, it is also the one activity in which learners were most likely to feel themselves at play rather than at work, and therefore to consider themselves at the time as people, rather than as learners or students. Because of the affective element of play within chatting, I would tend to agree with Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen (2009) with regard to their broad definition of play as an attitude towards one’s activity, rather than as a specific activity in and of itself. Another activity that stands out, to a lesser degree, as central to many learners is that of using video online.

However, many individual learners, of both Thai and English, had their own personal preferences, some even bordering on mania, for specific online activities. For EK, these activities involved engaging in fandoms, watching series programmes, and writing joint fiction. TK displayed a passion for activities provided on directed learning sites such as its4thai.com and english2thai.com. EC highlighted his experience seeking cultural knowledge through sites such as that hosted by the British Council.

With regard to insights into the mechanisms of the technology and the user experience of such technologies, the first pertinent observation is that the vast majority of learners, regardless of L2, tend to use multiple Internet-based platforms or functions simultaneously. Another common theme was that of general complaint regarding the shortcomings of translation sites, and the relative lack of opportunity to practice both listening and speaking online. Through my own experience, I also found that those sites offering listening activities lacking in technical options, such as variable playback speed and scroll-over translation, by which they would be greatly enhanced. Finally, nearly all learners reported utilizing sites for directed language learning, most of which provide ‘game-like’ activities or exercises. Based upon my personal experience with such sites, those aspects which do enhance the affective experience of activities follow many of the qualities or mechanisms outlined by McGonigal, namely: discrete, achievable tasks, fun failure, sufficient and immediate feedback, and a sense of ‘leveling up.’ Additionally, I noticed the propulsive effect of activities which have a kind of automaticity, allowing the learner to focus immediately on the correct solution or answer, without having to consider the how or why of what they are doing.

2. Secondly, does this emic perspective differ depending on the specific L2 being acquired through non-instructed, Internet-mediated L2 activity, and do similarities also occur? The two L2 being examined here are Thai and English. The link between these two questions lies in the conjecture that the L2 acquisition process, regardless of the target L2, basically proceeds in a similar fashion.

Because of multiple confounding factors, such as age, culture, and others, any statement concerning differences between Thai and English L2 learners quickly becomes muddled and inconclusive. Nonetheless, based on the survey and interview results, I can state that similarities in their experience of, and affective reaction to various Internet mediated L2 activities override differences.

To begin with background differences which may serve as confounding factors, data revealed that TLLs generally were older and had fewer years of L2 study. While they used the Internet more frequently, they spent a smaller proportion of their online time, and did a narrower variety of activities, in the L2, than ELLs.

TLLs generally enjoyed the same online activities in their L2 as ELLs, but more so. However, they also expressed greater frustration or difficulty in using the Internet in their L2 than did ELLs. This frustration was noted particularly with regard to level of language difficulty, especially in reading oriented activities. Perhaps because of relative lack of exposure and familiarity, many TLLs, myself included, expressed a high degree of frustration with sites entirely in Thai, created for Thai users, than did ELLs for sites entirely in English, created for native English users. Additionally, some TLLs commented on a relative lack of interest in Thai language content (perhaps as a result of its cultural specificity). In contrast, ELLs expressed enthusiasm for the greater amount of useful information available in English online. However, they also reported uncertainty regarding the correctness of English which they might encounter online, as so much content is produced by non-native speakers (as well as non-professional native speaker writers with a tenuous, at best, grasp of English grammar, sentence structure, and spelling). And finally, many ELLs commented enthusiastically on the ability the Internet offers them to chat with friends, both native and non-native speakers, worldwide. As Thai is a national rather than international language, this option was not featured in any comments by TLLs.

3. Does this conjecture also hold true for L2 acquisition in an Internet-mediated environment? If some differences do exist, these can then be seen as areas in which any conclusions regarding Thai L2 acquisition may not be transferrable to English L2 acquisition, and vice versa. It may also be interesting to consider whether such possible differences result from differences in the target L2, or differences in the cultural and technical knowledge backgrounds of the participants. If similarities exist in some areas, these may be areas in which any observations or conclusions are transferable and applicable to any L2[H3] .[H4]

While it has long been a topic of debate as to whether the L2 acquisition process is primarily the same or different depending on the target L2, this question has been broken down into a number of sub-factors. These include the learner’s motivational profile, the learning environment, previous other L2 study, and the degree of difference between the learner’s native language and target language. With specific regard to differences between English and Thai as target L2s, the issues of learners’ identities and language functionality also come into play, as English is a global language, and Thai is not. For this same reason, it is evident that there are indeed significant differences in the learning environments accessible through the Internet to learners of either language. As Thai serves as a national language only, it presents the thoughts, concerns, themes, and collective knowledge of the Thai nation and people only. English, on the other hand, as a global and international language, is the default language of the Internet, with the vast bulk of content (more that 80% of Internet home pages are in English) (http://englishenglish.com/english_facts_8.htm) available on the Internet is available in English. Information from Wikipedia indicates that: “Estimates of the percentages of Web sites using various content languages as of 30 December 2011: English - 56.6%, Thai – 0.3%.”

Nonetheless, the results of this study appear to indicate that with regard to the learning and affective mechanisms of online L2 activity, similarities outweigh differences. Any differences that do exist are minor, and relate more to differences in the online presence of the two languages, and differences in the cultural and technical knowledge backgrounds of the participants, rather than differences in the actual second language acquisition process.

5.2 Implications for Online Learning

Based on the data accumulated, we can summarize the types of learning as well as the predominant affective reactions to the main types of online activity reviewed in this study. Chatting offers multiple benefits by engendering opportunities for meaning focused input, production, and interaction. In comparison to live conversation, for which it serves as a parallel activity, it allows participants freedom of effort, in being able to respond when one likes, and also use of JIT and on-demand functions, which may partially explain reduced anxiety levels. Input and feedback from interlocutors can offer participants a chance to focus on form, and to practice and learn set phrases, and the type of vocabulary to which participants are exposed is usually more colloquial than that found in written texts. Chatting can also serve as scaffolding for live conversation.

Reading, obviously, provides language input. Based on the data, the importance of material that is appropriate to the learner’s level is clear. This is a concern which may not always be effectively addressed by unaided learners, and offers an opportunity for teacher input. Another concern, particularly for online readers, is the assured correctness of any chosen text, again, an area for teacher input. Finally, what emerged as crucial in the selection of online reading material is the element of personal interest. Also, from my own personal experience with vocabulary and grammar focused websites with no accompanying text, and online texts with no accompanying grammar or vocabulary focus, any reading passage should ideally be integrated with a relevant vocabulary and grammar focus.

Online listening activities are usually, and ideally, accompanied by a transcript and / or occur within a contextualizing video. As with reading passages, they obviously provide input, and the importance of level-appropriate material is clear. With regard to technical features, most online listening activities could be greatly enhanced by a few, simple changes. Variable speed playback allows learners to ramp up ability; text which changes color as it occurs audibly (as with karaoke text) allows learners to keep track of where they are; and scroll over features could allow learners JIT access to meanings and individual word pronunciation. Some of these technical features would serve well to enhance reading focused online activity as well.

Writing online, here subsumed under the heading of blogging, obviously provides opportunity for output. It also allows participants opportunities for developing a personal voice, and the creation of and investment in one or many online identities. More than any other online activity, it allows learners to exercise agency as ownership over what they are doing. It also allows participants to customize their activity, opportunity to contextualize lexis, and to create their own scaffolding and system thinking. The type of vocabulary acquired through blogging can vary widely, but is likely to be of personal relevance to the learner. Finally, the importance of finishing what one has started should not be underestimated.

Directed sites for the learning of particular second languages seem to hold some attraction for all learners. They frequently offer ‘game-like’ aspects, which make activities more motivating and fun: discrete, achievable tasks, fun failure, automaticity, feedback, and leveling up. The type of vocabulary usually acquired through such sites is primarily functional. Finally, as with games, which I do not focus on here due to their relative lack of popularity within this study, online activity should appropriately match a learner’s profile. While many learners prefer play to study, and are therefore attracted to games and game-like activity, some are not. For more ‘serious’ learners, such activity may not be motivating or appropriate.

With video, as with reading, the importance of a learner’s personal interest in the subject matter is paramount. Video is the most accessible of all online activities in that it can be an almost entirely passive experience, requiring the learner to simply choose, click and consume. However, in order to learn from videos, the learner must develop a methodology. Ultimately, watching video provides listening practice for learners. Therefore, the methodology is not dissimilar to that required for listening activities: the application of effort to identify and learn unknown vocabulary, the need for repeated listening / viewing, and, ideally, the execution of some sort of comprehension checking activity, which might comprise a set of teacher designed questions, or alternately some sort of learner generated, text, audio, or video based response.

5.2.1 Implications for Autonomous Learning

There is a direct positive relation between agency and autonomy, and between autonomy and motivation. Nevertheless, autonomy must be nurtured and coached. Learners often are accustomed to doing what they are told to do, and such learners may have a less well-developed sense of their autonomy and how to cultivate it. Therefore, in such cases, a process of re-learning to do what one wants to do (agency) must be consciously undertaken. Paradoxically, it is the role of the teacher to re-introduce the concept of autonomy and help learners cultivate it.

One theme which clearly emerged from the data is the importance of personal interest and significance and their direct positive relation to autonomy, hence motivation. An obvious starting point for teachers and learners in search of autonomy is the exploration and cultivation of personal interests, and the consideration of areas of personal significance to learners.

Given the centrality of chatting in this study, in data coming both from the ethnography and the surveys and interviews, it would appear that both agency and autonomy are closely related to community and relationship building. EK’s experience with fandoms and writing fan fiction serves as an excellent example of how involvement in a community of like-minded people expands and productively channels agency, and vice versa. For this reason, encouraging learners to collaborate and build relationships with others who share similar interests should serve well to foster further autonomy and language learning.

Furthermore, autonomy, as well as motivation, can be greatly enhanced by appropriate feedback. This was something I did not receive in my blogging experience, but which I did encounter through both chatting and sties for directed language study. its4thai.com. featured advancing progress bars, while many of the activities on thai-language.com provided point scores indicating the percentage of correctly answered items. These features served to propel my activity, to inform me of where I needed to focus, and to constantly challenge myself to improve my performance.

Lastly, although I began this study with only one understanding, or definition, of agency, I close it with two. While agency can be conceived as a sixth freedom – to do what one wants, when one wants, it can also be conceived (in line with Gee’s understanding) as a sense of ownership over what one does. This second understanding refers not only to the activity itself, but also to the product of that activity.

Because of this, we can see a murky tripartite divide among activities, between those that are (primarily) consumptive, interactive, and productive, each offering greater degrees of Gee’s sense of agency. Of course, there is a great deal of overlap with many activities, for example, the interactive nature of writing joint fan fiction is also productive, and relies as well on the consumptive aspect of viewing or reading certain existing genres. It is also clear that there is an obvious order to types of activity, one which mirrors language acquisition, of consumptive to interactive to productive. But, because of the additional sense of agency imparted by production, it may be sensible to emphasize productive activities over all others.

Nonetheless, it is also clear that learner autonomy is equally achievable in any of these three categories of activity. When a learner selects a video for consumption they are exercising autonomy to a degree equal to that in which they are writing a blog post. The crux of autonomy here is the exercise of free choice. In the interest of fostering greater autonomy through online second language activity, it is this aspect of choice that the teacher can help to foster. When learners’ understanding of choice is informed by a greater awareness of multiple factors – their own ability levels, their own areas of interest, the range of options available to them, and some possible methods for exploring and exploiting those options – then they achieve greater autonomy in their learning.

5.3 Directions for further study

In this study, the focus has been on learners’ emic perspective towards their online second language activities, including their affective response to those activities, as well as the learning implications for those activities. While the focus has been on learners’ self-directed activities, study of more structured, including instructed, online L2 activity is also warranted. A number of other areas of interest have been touched upon in this study, but deserve to be researched in greater depth.

Much of the emphasis in this study has been on the use of CMC, or chatting. Again, the focus has been on the affective and learning aspects therein. But further study, focusing specifically on relationship building, the nature of various online relationships, and their effect on the second language acquisition process, would be valuable. Related to this, online communities and the process of acquisition of their specific linguistic norms is an area for further research. Also related is the need for further research into the effects of inter-learner play, the possibility of transcendence of referential, or social, identity during such experiences, and ensuing implications for learning.

While much has been written about the desirability of positive affect during the learning experience, additional study of the impact of the affective element on learning is needed. In future it is quite likely that further exploration of this issue will be conducted in conjunction with emotions research, making use of state of the art tools such as brain imaging or MRI .

Another area for further study is that of the leveraging of agency in online games and other activities. While it has been postulated that the ability to eschew one’s physically based identity and create a new online persona can allow learners to interact in new, freer and less restrictive ways than they would in physical reality, research in this area is scant. The possibilities exist that online activity can allow learners the opportunity to avoid the types of age, gender and race biases they might encounter in the ‘real’ world, but have yet to be proved.

I have stated: “In natural, uninstructed L2 acquisition it would appear that implicit knowledge would naturally occur, while explicit knowledge would require either instruction or metacognitive analysis on the part of the learner.” Further research could also be directed to determine what kind of meta-cognitive analysis occurs in the learner in non-instructed learning which allows rule-based competency development. Such research could possibly make use of talk through protocol.

Finally, as this study is quite limited in scope, a broader study of what Internet-mediated experiences motivate learners may yield additional patterns as well as outliers. One outlier encountered in this study, that of fanfiction, indicates that others may follow, and that each particular outlier may open up new paths towards additional, highly specialized research.

“If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn’t be called research.” (Einstein, A. as quoted by De Grey, A. in Brockman, J., ed., 2012, p. 55)

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

2012-12-26T03:09:00.000-08:00

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1.1 Thai and English L2 Learners’ Backgrounds – a Comparative Analysis

In order to assess background information, chosen experiences and emic perspectives of both English language learners (ELL) and Thai language learners (TLL), I utilized parallel online surveys.

For both surveys, while many questions were mandatory, many others (most often, those in which responses were dependent upon the manner in which a previous question had been answered) were not. An example of this latter category would be question 9. What do you like to write about (or post pictures or videos of) in your blog? Because not all respondents keep blogs, they might a. not be directed to this question, or b. not be required to answer it.

There were 41 respondents to the first survey, that of English language learners. In contrast, there were only 14 respondents to the second survey, that of Thai language learners. It is important to note that while I have used the term language ‘learners,’ many of the respondents do not necessarily, or always, identify themselves as learners. As was discovered during the course of the research, this is particularly true of the former group, some of whom have been using English over ten years, and many in professional contexts.

Following is a comparative analysis of learners’ backgrounds, contrasting the first (ELL) and second (TLL) groups with regard to age, language of origin, years of L2 study, weekly Internet use, L2 Internet use, simultaneous use of multiple media, and variety of media used simultaneously.

Age

The age of respondents was broken down into five groups. For ELLs, the majority (51.22%) characterize themselves as being in the 26-35 year age range. TLLs fell into only three age ranges, with the average age range shifting higher and the largest group consisting of 36-50 year olds. The following pie charts illustrate the age ranges of users by age group.

ELL TLL

Figure 1. Age of English and Thai language learners

Language of Origin

The native languages of ELL respondents were as follows: Indonesian (23), Balinese (2), Javanese (1), Thai (6), Persian/Farsi (3), Korean (1), Kachin (1). It should be noted that while 2 respondents noted their L1 as ‘Balinese,’ and 1 noted as ‘Javanese,’ these people are almost certainly fluent speakers of Indonesian, as this is the national language of Indonesia, used in the media and education system. Furthermore, many of those who noted their native language as ‘Indonesian’ may have first learned to speak Balinese or Javanese, while being fluent Indonesian speakers. All respondents were native speakers of Asian languages.

For TLL respondents, the largest number (ten) were native English speakers, with one native speaker of each of the following languages: French, Hmong, Cambodian (Khmer), and Japanese.

Years of L2 Study

For ELLs, the number of years of language learning fell into four categories, with the vast majority (60%) of respondents having studied English for over 10 years. The second largest group (17.5%) report having learned English for 6 – 9 years. For TLLs, the vast majority (88.89%) report learning Thai for 3 – 5 years, with only 11.11% reporting learning for 10 or more years. The results are represented by the following pie charts.

ELL TLL

Figure 2. Length of L2 study: English and Thai language learners

Weekly Internet Use

For the ELL group, Internet use was broken down into six groups, depending on number of hours’ use per week. The largest proportion of users (30%), utilized the Internet two to five hours per week, while the second largest group (22.5%) used the Internet over 20 hours per week. For TLLs, Internet use fell into five groups, with a similar percentage (21.43%) reporting using the Internet more than 20 hours per week. On average, weekly Internet use in hours shifted higher for the TLL group, with none reporting less than two hours of weekly use. The following graphics illustrate the breakdown.

ELL TLL

Figure 3. Weekly Internet use: English and Thai language learners

L2 Internet Use

For ELLs, with regard to L2 Internet usage, 50% of respondents reported they “frequently use the Internet in English,” while an additional 32.5% reported they “use the Internet in English only.” Only a very small percentage (2.5%) reported that they “rarely use the Internet in English,” while none reported never using the Internet in English. For TLLs, a significantly larger group (38.46%) reported never using the Internet in Thai. Overall, the percentage of TLLs using the Internet in their L2 shifted significantly lower, with none reporting using the Internet only or frequently in Thai. The breakdown of respondents is illustrated by the following pie charts.

ELL TLL

Figure 4. Internet L2 use: English and Thai language learners

Variety of Media

Overall, a larger percentage (70%) of TLLs reported using multiple Internet modalities at the same time, while 53.57% of ELLs reported doing so. There was very little difference reported regarding the variety of modalities used simultaneously, comparing between the two groups, ELLs and TLLs.

ELL TLL

Figure 5. Variety of media: English and Thai language learners

4.1.2 Thai and English L2 Learners’ Experiences and Perspectives– a Comparative Analysis

While background information on English language and Thai language learners was obtained through online surveys, their chosen experiences and emic perspectives on those experiences were assessed initially through the same surveys, and in greater depth by means of interviews with selected candidates.

Interviews were conducted through CMC (text based chat) with three ELLs, and by means of Skype (audio-video) with three TLLs. The candidates for interview were selected based on a number of criteria. First of all, only candidates who completed the entire survey were selected. Additional criteria included the amount of time spent online weekly, the amount of online time spent using L2 and the number of years of L2 learning, with priority given to candidates indicating greater amounts of all of the above. Preference also was given to those candidates who provided greater and more expressive detail in answers to open-ended questions, and those who used a greater variety of online media. ELL interviewees consisted of two Indonesian nationals, and one Thai national, while TLL interviewees consisted of two American nationals, and one Cambodian national. ELL interviewees have been named EC, EK, and ER, and TLL interviewees as TK, TM and TR.

In survey question 7, (illustrated in the tables available in Appendix B) respondents were asked “How much fun is it for you to do the following Internet activities in [target language]?” This question was followed by a list of 14 activities and ‘other,’ and a seven point Likert scale, with 1 equal to ‘very fun,’ and 7 equal to ‘not fun at all.’ A final possible answer, ‘I never do this at all,’ is not scored.

In the following section, I compare responses of ELLs and TLLs concerning their chosen experiences and emic responses to those experiences, using data both from online surveys and interviews, noting instances of contrast, and also similarities which occurred.

Chatting

Concerning chatting with friends through CMC, overall, TLLs considered this experience to be more fun than ELLs, giving scores of 2.38 and 2.88 respectively. However, a larger proportion (3/11) of TLL respondents reported not engaging in this activity, compared with only 2/34 ELLs. Likewise, TLLs scored the next activity, chatting with strangers as being more fun than for ELLs, with scores of 2.25 and 4.20 respectively. Significantly, a high percentage of both groups (7/11 for TLLs and 14/34 for ELLs) reported never engaging in this activity. While chatting with friends is an activity which most learners engaged in and found enjoyable, ELLs found chatting with strangers to be considerably less enjoyable, and fewer ELLs did this. Interestingly, while most TLLs also did not chat with strangers, those that did reported it as being fun, even more fun than chatting with friends.

Interviews with English language learners provide further insights. Interviewee EC commented: “I use Google translate and use my YM [Yahoo messenger] to chat with people around the globe.” Concerning chatting in chatrooms with strangers, he remarked: “Its quite exciting experience …I can chat with people and share some experience, knowledge, habits in other countries” These comments fall in line very much with McGonigal’s notion of games serving to foster meaning and social connection. EC continues: “from that person I aware that I'm not only the person who made those mistakes in communicating in English and it gain my confidence” This kind of sharing also touches on some of McGonigal’s other notions – those of ‘fun failure,’ ‘happy embarrassment,’ and ‘vicarious pride.’

Interviewee EK stated that she did not like to chat with strangers; “however I do chat quite a lot with strangers who became my friends in twitter.” This again points to the kind of social connection remarked upon by McGonigal. Concerning (others’) mistakes, EK commented “I do notice them sometimes, but I don't often act on it.” Interviewee ER, a Thai national who regularly chats with his Thai (university) friends in English mirrored this carefree, communication-focused approach to chatting, saying: “we dont take it serious when chatting …sometimes broken Eng is acceptable LOL” This attitude shows evidence of Ellis’s second principle, that of focusing primarily on meaning.

Thai language learners also highlighted the enjoyment they get from the social aspect of chatting, as well as the language learning benefits. TK remarked that he likes to “chat with Thais on various chatting places, social networks, sometimes on cam too. Talk and type. It's A LOT of fun as I get to practice my Thai skills and then get to know someone, which is fun.” The enthusiasm with which this interviewee expressed himself here, and stress on fun, indicates to me, as an interviewer, the kind of ‘flow experience’ described by Csíkszentmihályi as indicative of play. In discussing the advantages over face to face conversation, TK remarks: “when chatting, I can type as well, and then get reactions to that, or an explanation from the person, live right there. Obviously there's no typing or writing when you are face to face.” Such an advantage allows for a number of ‘rules’ as indicated by Ellis: a greater chance to focus on form, further opportunity to focus on meaning, and obviously, both extensive L2 input and opportunity to interact in the L2. TK even goes so far as to say “the number one best learning technique is through chat.”

TM offers a similar comment: “It’s also easier to grab on to phrases, because you’re not just hearing sounds, you actually see the symbols there and you can take notes and reference them later.” He also remarks that “you can always chat any time, you don’t have to respond right away.” This observation too falls into line with one of the ‘5 freedoms of play’ (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009), that being freedom of effort. TM also makes an interesting observation regarding chat as a form of scaffolding tool: “I think chatting is actually a really good way for people to kind of step up to the next level … for those who aren’t really ready. This way they can kinda chat, and, they can take their time, use a dictionary, things like that.” This comment mirror’s Gee’s ‘good learning principle’ number four, that of providing well-ordered problems or scaffolding. It also displays evidence of his principle number three – customization, in which gamers decide how they play, and number ten – system thinking. Furthermore it shows a relation to McGonigal’s game-based concept of ‘leveling up,’ in that learners can use chat as a means of ‘leveling up’ to face-to-face conversation.

TR makes a comment quite similar to one of the ELL interviewees: “you worry less about mistakes if you chat than when speaking in person …I don't care a lot and my friends either, we care only the words we don't understand.” Here, once again, is clear evidence of chatting as embodying Ellis’s learning principle number two, “focus predominantly on meaning.” It would appear from these comments that for learners, chat is primarily concerned with communication, with meaning, and with relationship building, and that language learning, and focus on form, while they do occur, are a side product rather than the primary focus.

Reading

Reading (articles, reviews, blogs, etc.) was reported to be a fun activity by both groups, with a score of 2.12 for ELLs, and 2.25 for TLLs. No ELLs reported not doing this activity, while 3/11 TLLs reported not engaging in reading online. Reading short items written by friends such as social media posts was considered less fun by both groups, with ELLs giving a score of 2.76, and TLLs a score of 2.64. All but one ELL reported doing this activity, while all TLLs reported doing so. Overall, reading in some form is an activity all learners engaged in and found relatively enjoyable or fun.

However, interviewees had little to say about reading. While almost all survey respondents judged reading as relatively fun, and interviewees reported reading and gaining something from it, most did not spontaneously enthuse regarding a particular enjoyment of reading. EC remarks: “I got many new things from reading, new vocab, new grammar, new social awareness of the impact of using certain word(s) in a society.” TM reports that he “read a lot of news articles in Thai.” Of course, with regard to language learning, reading equates with Ellis’s sixth learning principle, extensive L2 input.

Writing

Overall, writing scored as being less fun than either chatting or reading by both groups, with scores in the 3s rather than 2s. ELLs gave a score of 3.65 for writing social media posts, and a score of 3.36 for writing blogs, while TLLs gave scores of 3.25 and 3.0 for those activities respectively. While only 12/34 ELLs reported not keeping a blog (meaning presumably, that the remainder had done so at some point), 10/11 TLLs reported not having ever written a blog in Thai.

Only those learners who had indicated having written a blog were directed to question 9, ‘What do you like to write about (or post pictures or videos of) in your blog?’ This question garnered the following responses from each group: For ELLS, the most frequently mentioned topic (5 mentions) was personal interest, followed by personal experience, related to posted photos, and teacher’s request (2 mentions each). Also mentioned were films, class, and social issues (1 mention each). For TLLs, personal interest (2 mentions) was also the topic learners most frequently wrote about, with personal experiences and opinions also mentioned once each.

Most interviewees showed little enthusiasm for writing online (although all mentioned understanding its potential value). ER reported that he wrote a blog when in school, but has since forgotten the url – a sign of the (lack of) value he places on the product of this activity. When asked “what did you feel about making the blog, and about the result?” he replied “its boring LOL.” None of the Thai learner interviewees reported spending any time writing online.

EK was the anomaly among interviewees, showing not only a positive attitude, but a passion for writing. When asked “when you chat or write stories in English, does it feel more like work / study to you, or like play?” she replied “Playing, obviously.” When asked why, she says “I think it's because when I use or write in English, most of the time it just flows naturally.” EK engages in an activity intrinsic to fan fiction – joint writing. First calling it a kind of ‘role-playing game,’ she explains the process as follows: “in this roleplaying game one plays a character, either from a movie, novel, whomever you like ...There are a lot of online forums for it …It's more like writing a joint fiction …For example I write for character A and I write one or two paragraphs … Then the other person who's playing character B and he/she writes the next. It goes on. ” In response to being asked how she learns from this, EK answers: “Well in this kind of role-playing, some of the players write /beautifully/ …It's almost like reading a novel, haha …I do learn a lot of vocabularies from it.” When asked what is indicated by using forward slash (/) around a word, she states that it adds emphasis, as capital letters might be seen as rude or angry. This indicates EK’s familiarity with a kind of codified subtlety of usage particular to CMC, be it chat or joint fiction writing. As with chat, EK’s practice of joint fiction writing encapsulates many of Ellis’s principles of language learning, notably extensive L2 input, opportunity for output, and opportunity to interact in the L2. It also appears to embody two of the mechanisms for positive emotion detailed by McGonigal, namely continuous feedback, and clear goals and actionable next steps.

Directed Activities

For both ELLs and TLLs, using websites with directed activities for the acquisition of grammar or vocabulary were rated as more fun than translation sites such as Google translate or bing. (However, it should be kept in mind that such translation sites serve primarily as an adjunct, rather than an activity in and of themselves). ELLs gave scores of 2.88 and 2.94 respectively, while TLLs gave respective scores of 3.11 and 3.33. Significantly, almost all users from both groups noted using such sites.

In interviews, while ELLs did not provide any further focus on websites with directed activities, TLLs did. Both TK and TM mention the usefulness of such sites in their learning. TK, when asked what he would like to see in an ideal Thai language learning site answers: “it would be a combination between thai-language.com and its4thai I think. Lots of translations and words, and then a lot of learning games.” These sites will be discussed further in the following section 4.3

Virtual Environments and Games

ELLs gave a score of 3.85 concerning using virtual environments, with 14 respondents noting that they “never do this.” TLLs gave a score of 3.00, with only one respondent, while 10 respondents (out of 11) noted never using virtual reality sites. ELLs scored playing games in English at 2.84, with nine respondents noting that they “never do this.” For TLLs, again, only one respondent claimed engaging in this activity, giving a score of 4.00, and ten respondents stating they “never do this.” While virtual environments and games in English were somewhat popular among ELLs, for the most part, TLLs did not make use of such media in Thai. This may be due to the prevalence of games and virtual environments in English, or to other factors such as the average higher age for TLLs.

Somewhat surprisingly, none of the interviewees were particularly keen on games, especially of the MMORP variety. When asked “Why no games?” EK replied “I'm just not good at it ...But of course it depends on what kind of game you are talking about ...I like puzzle games.” This answer indicates a typical understanding of ‘games’ as meaning the first person shooter or MMORP variety, as well as the effect of personality on one’s choice of game type. ER mentions “I play Scrabbles online. That’s in Eng.” And TK states: “I'm not big into the Facebook games, poker, things like this. I do those on my iPhone … none in Thai, though I think that would be fun.” It is interesting to note the technology / activity divide here – clearly this is an area for further research.

Video

Watching videos on Youtube was noted as the singularly most fun activity for both groups. ELLs scored this activity at 1.85, with all respondents reporting engaging in watching videos. TLLs, with only one respondent noting they “never do this,” gave a score of 2.20. As for making and uploading videos, this was a less popular, and less fun activity. For ELLs a score of 3.13 was given, with 18 respondents stating they “never do this,” while for TLLs, a score of 2.33 was given, with eight respondents stating they “never do this.”

Among ELL interviewees, EK was the most enthusiastic about watching, particularly the type of pop culture media that attract a fan base. In explaining her writing ability, she says “I think it's because I watch a lot (too much?) of TV series in English.” She further describes the specific value of watching in saying “Oh and talking about shows which teaches me a lot of vocabularies, there's QI.” Clearly, EK has a passion for certain programs. When I mention that I don't know ‘Dr. Who,’ she states “It's a BBC series. It has taken over my life.” This comment, along with further comments detailed below, seems to indicate the type of experience described by Csíkszentmihályi as typical of ‘flow.’ TK discusses his enthusiasm for watching videos / programs in Thai, saying “I love watching music videos first, and then I love Thailand travel shows. Also I love to watch Americans speaking fluent Thai, so I will watch someone either teaching Thai or if they are being interviewed in Thailand. I love that.” TR states “I watch movies, listen music, read some short words with pictures, and search some useful website to improve my Thai like self teaching, language guiding... etc.” TM mentions that he enjoys watching “music, videos or Thai commercials. It’s kind of fun, they’re so interesting or crazy …it’s kind of fun to go back and try to figure out what they’re saying.” TK notes preferring subtitles in English with films, and in Thai with music video, and TM also states: “The lyrics underneath in Thai, that helps a lot.” Like the use of translation sites, this feature, subtitles, can act as a kind of scaffolding for learners, also representing one of Gee’s principles, that of “just-in-time (JIT) and on-demand information.”

It would seem that the choice of online media one consumes is very much entwined with one’s identity and that when learners are choosing specific L2 media they are very much making a statement about who they are and what they enjoy. In this regard, this activity clearly matches Gee’s first ‘good learning principle,’ that of identity – “provide gamers an identity in which to invest,” as well as his seventh, “situated meaning – contextualization,” as video can serve to contextualize language in a way other Internet-mediated activities cannot. It also indicates a clear instance of agency and exploration. Finally, it encapsulates many of Ellis’s language learning principles, notably, number five, “meeting a learner’s built-in syllabus,” number six, extensive L2 input, and number ten, focusing on free production.

Other Activities

Other activities were found to be less fun for respondents. ELLs scored shopping online in English at 3.83, answering survey questions at 4.35, and other 3.97. TLLs scored shopping at 4.43, answering survey question at 6.20, and other 3.60.

Survey question 8 asked respondents ‘What are other activities do you do in English on the Internet?’ This was a non-mandatory question and garnered 14 responses. Respondents answered: Both ELLs (4) and TLLs (2) mentioned looking for specific information. However, while ELLs typically looked for information related to assignments, travel, or work (medical knowledge, one mention), TLLs looked for information related to their immediate (Thai) surroundings – for apartments, second hand motorbikes, and eating and shopping venues. Both ELLs (4 mentions) and TLLs (2 mentions) noted reading as well. Aside from these two activities, there was some divergence with regard to “other” activities learners did in their L2 online. ELLs mentioned looking for new friends (1), work-related activity, such as email correspondence (3), and Skype (1). Interesting additional outliers included: “Write joint stories with strangers via blogs,” (as discussed above) and “Exploring web 2.0 tools for education ie: digital story telling tools, video tools, making online poster/glogster, puzzle makers etc.” TLLs noted watching music videos and looking for lyrics (3), and using sites for the directed study of Thai (2).

Question 10, ‘How strongly do you agree with the following statements?’ is similar to question 7 in its use of a Likert scale. The table featured in Appendix B illustrates statements and responses. Overall, we can see a similar pattern in responses of ELLs and TLLs, but with ELLs generally showing a higher level of agreement. (Again, note, a lower score indicates a higher level of agreement). The statements in this table can be broken down into the following categories: feelings of improvement / noticing (items 1, 10, 11, and 14), positive feelings (3, 5, 6 and 12), negative feelings (4 and 15), online vs. offline (13), and chatting (7, 8 and 9).

Feelings of Improvement / Noticing

ELLs typically agreed more with the statements than did TLLs. Likewise, ELLs’ pattern in responding was shadowed by TLLs. ELLs agreed that the Internet “helps me improve” in their target language at 1.82, while TLLs scored this item 2.11. Concerning “noticing” new vocabulary, ELLs rated 1.58, and TLLs 2.20. Concerning noticing one’s own mistakes, ELLs scored this at 2.19, and TLLs at 3.11; and noticing grammar at 2.20 for ELLs and 2.63 for TLLs.

Figure 6. Feelings of Improvement and Noticing: English and Thai language learners

In interviews, both groups provided some elaboration. When asked “do you ever notice new grammar when you use internet in English?” ER answered “yes always LOL.” TK responded to the same question saying: “I definitely notice the way in which someone answers, the sentence structure. I'm really interested in this, as I would like to start speaking and writing like this myself.” So, for these two learners, extensive L2 input (Ellis’s principle 6), did lead to a focus on form (Ellis’s principle 3). With regard to the effective transfer of skills from the online realm to face-to-face interaction, ER remarks: “for speaking yes but for listening might be less.” Of the four skills, in general, learners felt they received the least practice in listening through Internet-mediated activity. This is quite interesting, as, actually, speaking is the skill (I found to be) least exercised in online activity. However, it may be the case that such a statement indicates that learners regard their chat activity more as speaking than as writing.

Positive Feelings

The same parallel patterns emerge in statements regarding positive feelings, with the exception that ELLs (at 2.35) agree more that they “worry less about making mistakes in [L2] when on the Internet than when talking with someone in person”, than TLLs, at 2.82. ELLs scored the statement “I have fun using the Internet in [L2]” at 1.52 while TLLs scored this at 2.33. ELLs (at 2.35), agree slightly more with the statement regarding feeling that they are learning without studying, than TLLs (at 2.38). ELLs scored the statement “the Internet is a great medium for learning [L2]” at 1.70, and TLLs at 2.30. So, overall, it would seem that TLLs were slightly less enthusiastic about their Internet-mediated L2 activity than were ELLs.

Figure 7. Positive Feelings: English and Thai language learners

Interviews revealed other positive feelings regarding Internet-mediated L2 activity. First of all, what might go unnoticed is the choice of verbs used with regard to Internet activity in various languages. While in English we “surf,” “navigate” or “use” the Internet, in both Thai (เล่น) and Indonesian (main), one “plays” the Internet. This comes through in ER’s English usage in his comment: “haha yes sometimes before I played internet almost all day …i stayed up late like 4 am.” When asked for details about what he was doing he replies, “I played games with friends and chatted.” Furthermore, this comment illustrates a fluid use of various media experiences, indicating some of the various freedoms of play – freedom to experiment, to fashion, and freedom of effort, as well as, obviously, both agency and a flow experience that often kept him up almost all night.

When asked “what things online in English make you happy?” ER replied “good English conversation with friends … when I have problems, friends always tell me good things.” This comment shows evidence of McGonigal’s notion of fostering meaning and social connection. ER remarks: “friends at home LOL haha so proud of myself LOL.” He goes on to clarify: “cuz they know nothing and its me who put new things for them. I proud of myself LOL.” Again, this comment falls in line perfectly with two of McGonigal’s ‘mechanisms for positive emotion’: a ‘fiero’ experience, or emotional rush from accomplishment, and ‘vicarious pride,’ or the kind of pride one can take in others’ accomplishments.

EK, in her response to the question, “Do you ever lose track of time when you are doing stuff online in English?” also indicates frequently experiencing a flow state. She replies “More often than I like to admit.”

Negative Feelings

Overall, ELLs agreed more that they “feel like I am studying” when using their target language online (2.12) than did TLLs (2.44). TR, when asked during his interview “when you do the things you mention above, do you feel like you are working, studying, or playing?” replied, without hesitation “studying.” However, TLLs agreed that using one’s L2 online can be “difficult and frustrating” (2.70), more than did ELLs (4.74). Interviewees elaborated: TR commented “if I open Thai websites, it just appear Thai and no English , it is useless for me.[H4] ” Similarly, TK reported “seeing a page designed for Thai native speakers can be overwhelming.”

Perhaps because most Thai language learners surveyed live in Thailand, they agreed less (3.78) with the statement “I learn more [L2] online than I do offline” than did ELLs (2.73).

Chatting with Native and Non-native Speakers

Both ELLs and TLLs enjoy chatting with native speakers (2.07/2.00), and somewhat less with non-native speakers (2.52/2.50). Again, TLL responses seemed to shadow those of ELLs, although TLLs agreed that they were “learning when chatting” (1.86) more than ELLs (2.31) did.

Figure 8. Chatting - details: English and Thai language learners

Difficulties

In question 11, respondents were asked for more detail concerning any difficulties they experienced in online L2 usage. Overall, TLLs noted comparatively greater feelings of difficulty or frustration in using their L2 online than did ELLs, both in the numerical score given and in their comments. While ELLs comments were very limited, making only two comments (concerning lack of certainty in using grammar and vocabulary), TLLs made eight comments, many quite lengthy. Three comments concerned difficulties with Thai slang, names and abbreviations (also mentioned in interviews), two concerning slow reading speed, and many more concerning frustrations with translation sites such as google translate.

One comment regarding reading strategies emerges: “My reading speed is still very slow. I can't scan a page in Thai like I can in English, I have to read word-by-word. Also, lack of familiarity with slang and famous names also makes it hard.” Another comment concerned a lack of motivating content. “Another big problem is, I'm not very motivated to learn about Thai society or cultural views. I'm more interested in expressing myself functionally. When I actually dedicate some time to learning Thai, I am often bored by the authentic Thai material I find out there because I have very little interest in the topics and such. That can be frustrating, very frustrating. For example, it’s fun sometimes reading friends posts on social networking sites like Facebook. Some of it’s too idiomatic for me to understand, and when I get lazy and use the translate function, and cobble together what I understand, it seems like the people post things that are very irrelevant or uninteresting to me. Makes me frustrated and bored and unwilling to delve further.”

Interviews yielded negative comments concerning translation sites, particularly Google translate, from both ELLs and TLLs. EC remarks “Google translate is the most frustrating thing …I only use Google translate when I feel like there are no choice.” Likewise, TK comments: “there doesn't seem to be a perfect translator. Google translator, in my opinion, is the worst one out there, not intuitive at all.”

Best Ways to Improve

In question12, respondents are asked the best ways to improve their L2 ability online. Because there were far more respondents among ELLs, there were far more responses than from the smaller pool of TLLs. However, the same patterns continued to hold true. While eight ELLs mention any kind of reading, three TLLs also do so. Other activities mentioned by both groups include: chatting with native speakers (ELLs 5, TLLs 3), Youtube / videos (ELLs 4, TLLs 2), using Google (4 and 1), following personal interest (2 and 1), listening to songs / looking up lyrics (3 and 1), and using / doing exercises (1 and 2). Some activities mentioned by ELLs only include: chatting with friends, strangers or non-native speakers, writing joint fiction, watching movies and TV shows, and sending emails. Activities mentioned only by TLLs are using Skype, and finding an online tutor (“An online student tutor would be an advantage for foreigner learners.”)

Some comments indicating a fluid use of multiple Internet media come from ELLs. “I frequently watch TV shows like Letterman late show or Lopez show on YouTube through which I would have access to real daily life talking. It also helps me to be familiar with American culture. Google can help me with structures in English that I am not sure about. When I guess that a sentence should be written in a specific form, I type it on Google and it most often than not will show me the correct structure used in different articles or written by native speakers.” Also: “Because I like music a lot, I always find out the lyrics and try to pronouce same as the singer when I read them. If I don't know what's the meaning, I use google translation to help me finding out what it means. It's not only working for English lyrics but for other languages too.”

One respondent from the ELL group, obviously a teacher, comments: “reading articles, blogs, etc. is a good way to widen vocabulary, grammar blogs are good to consolidate understanding or check the accuracy of the structure, listening to songs with subtitles helps learners with pronunciation, online dictionaries help learners look up new words, chats and writing posts help learners improve their production skills. If a learner combines those, there should be significant progress with their English. However, they can't take over classroom learning. :)”

From the TLL group, the importance of personal interest comes up again: “i don't know. but it starts with interest. and probably finding something thats interesting will make the learning easier. sometimes music (rarely). I seem to find historical a/v with discussions sometimes actually makes me interested.”

In interviews, learners offered similar comments. EC states: “Reading is the best for me, but learning new vocab and grammar is also exciting.” And TR comments: “I use both ways, after I read books, I will go to see movies or listen music or see some cartoon pictures with words so I relax and enjoy …then when I read a book, those word may appear to me.[H5] ” Once again, this clearly mirrors both Gee’s principle of exploration – “a non-linear attitude to knowledge acquisition,” as well as Ellis’s principle five, that of a “learner’s built-in syllabus.”

What Learners Like Most and Least

There was some divergence between ELLs and TLLs when describing what they like most and least about using the Internet in their target language. For ELLs, a large number (5) noted that they prefer to use the Internet in English because there is more information available in that language than in their own. TLLs did not make any such comments. Additionally many ELLs cited liking the ability to connect socially with people (“I can make friends over all the world.”), while, surprisingly, no TLLs commented on this aspect of the Internet. Both groups mention liking doing language exercises or watching music videos with lyrics online. Interestingly, only TLLs mentioned watching and reading news stories as something they liked most.

The item mentioned most frequently (four times) by ELLs as being what they like least about using the Internet in English is uncertainty with regard to whether the spelling and grammar of an online article is correct or not. This was not mentioned as a concern by TLLs. In contrast, the item mentioned most frequently by TLLs (three times) as being what they like least is confronting a language level that is too high and thus confusing. Both groups (one time each) cited the relative lack of speaking practice achieved in online activity.

With regard to what learners liked and disliked, some outliers came up in interviews. EC states “Sometimes I use the BBC …in getting vocab and grammar, also for cultural awareness.” As he mentioned this more than once, this aspect of cultural awareness seemed to have a high degree of importance for him. TK remarks

“I find that travel books are just silly …things that you would never say, or very rarely, will be in that situation.” This comment is indicative (by way of absence) of some of Gee’s principles, notably those of identity and agency.

Outliers

Additional themes came up in interviews which neither seemed to fit any of the concepts explored in the survey nor match any of the particular frameworks with which I tagged and interpreted survey and interview responses. First is that of instrumental motivation. EC remarked “I only use the Internet when I really need it to help me doing the homework and sometimes for job purposes.” ER also stated “yes, just like now we face with the high competition. It’s now competitive world so I have to do myself better than before English influences almost everything.” Equally unexpected was EK’s enthusiasm for fandoms. Her advice to learners was “Get into a fandom! …when in a fandom, esp. the one within the international range, you get to use English. You /have/ to use English.” And, in summing up his interview, TK commented “then the last thought on learning online. It takes a lot of time and a certain kind of passion. It's not easy. But it is fun.”

TR was able to offer additional insights through his position as an online user of both Thai and English as L2s. In his interview, as I began to sense this, I asked “did you also learn some of your English online?” TR answered “Because English is very easy to find and learn so I online I use only movies, music and it is very different from Thai.” [H6] I continued by asking “In what ways is it different, aside from there being so much more English online?” TR replied: “Thai do not have a lot of guiding grammar learning like English, Thai not international language so they do not appear every[where] like English.[H7] ” This comment may shed some light on why TLLs appeared to gravitate towards, and comment on the usefulness of sites designed specifically for language acquisition than did ELLs.

4.2 Similarities and Differences between Background of Ethnography Subject and Other Thai L2 Learners

I have provided extensive background information on myself as the ethnography subject in Section 3.2.2. Following are additional relevant background data (not included in Section 3.2.2) as related by pertinent responses on the Thai language learners’ online survey. (Note: I was not included as one of the original 14 respondents outlined in the above sections).

During the period of research I used the Internet on average over 20 hours per week. During that same period I frequently used the Internet in Thai. At age 46, I match the age range of 42.86% of the TLL group. However, while no TLL survey respondents had studied Thai for less than three years, I have studied Thai for only one and a half years.

After completing this study, I have come upon a further realization. Unlike other members of the TLL group, I have come to this study with the extensive background of a language learner, having studied and learned at least five languages. Additionally, I bring the background of years’ experience as a language teacher, a TESOL student, and a researcher in this particular field. Thus, the observations I bring to this particular ethnography, aside from possibly being deeper and broader than those of the TLL or ELL groups, may also be different from the ideas of those groups. As David Deutsch (2011: 41) has stated, “All observation is theory-laden.” As a result of my position as a researcher, my observations may be more informed by the theories of fellow teachers and academicians, while those of others surveyed may be more informed by self-generated theories.

4.3 Ethnography Subject’s Emic Perspective on Internet-mediated Experiences: Agency, Play and Positive Effect

My personal perspective on the experiences I encountered during my online Thai language activity, has been, as stated above, filtered through a wide range of theories. As delineated in Chapter 3, I have made use of a number of ‘frameworks’ as established by other authors. My selection of these specific frameworks is of itself not arbitrary, but rather, is most likely founded upon their relevance to other theories that I have either stumbled across, or developed personally during my 46 years as a language learner and language teacher. From a wide array of frameworks available, many of which are delineated in Chapter 1, I chose four distinct frameworks, developed by: Csíkszentmihályi, combined with that of Klopfer, Osterwell, and Salen, regarding play and agency; Ellis, regarding language learning; McGonigal, regarding game mechanisms for achieving positive affect; and Gee, regarding game mechanisms which promote learning, in order to create a coding system through which I examined the multiple instruments of my ethnography. Coded frameworks used in interpreting data are available in Appendix C. Using these frameworks, I coded the tools of my ethnography – learning log, blog posts, and chat transcripts – and bundled observations following themes seen in the first set of ELL and TLL data.

Use of Multiple Media

Similar to the majority of both groups of language learners surveyed, I also found myself using a number of Internet mediated platforms and activities near simultaneously. As a typical example, I would spend time chatting, and in between chatting, I would be writing a blog post, or do vocabulary activities on a site such as its4thai.com. Google translate would be one of the sites I almost always had open in a browser tab.

Like most other learners, I had both positive and negative feelings about Google translate. In the first week of my study, I wrote in my learning log: “for quite some time I have been a fan and critic of http://translate.google.com/. This site is really more of a simple program offering far too often too literal, (as in non-colloquial), and thoroughly confusing translations. But it is a great time saver for cutting and pasting and getting at approximate meanings.” This kind of fluid use of combined media, in particular the reliance on a translation function, reflects many of the principles outlined by Gee, namely those of co-production and customization, in the sense that I have made specific decisions on how to customize my online environment and production of output. Even more obviously, the use of Google translate fills the role of providing JIT (just in time) and on-demand information, as outlined by Gee in his sixth principle. During that same week, I wrote: “I like it that I can be called upon to use my Thai at any time now. I still had to paste most of the replies into Google translate.” Again, Gee’s principles (those outlined above) and his tenth, ‘system thinking,’ are evident here. Google translate has become a part of my ‘communication system,’ a fluid extension of my unaided ability.

In the following week I wrote: “I’m refining my means of using Google though. If I’m not sure how to answer I use Google translate to translate English to Thai, but then I don’t cut and paste as I had been tempted to before. First of all, if I do this I know I am cheating myself of learning to spell and becoming familiar with the Thai keyboard. Secondly, Google translate’s English sentences are so frequently messed up that I’m fairly sure that when the Thai sentences look unnatural to me, I’m probably right. And so, I use the translation as a reference only, typing in what seems correct and deleting or changing what doesn’t sound natural to me.” This again displays a refinement of what Gee calls “system thinking,” as well as evidence of the ”freedom to experiment,” as described by Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen (2009), in which one displays an ability “to maneuver and invent new approaches to whatever task is a hand.” (p. 4)

A different sort of customization in my use of Google translate came up while translating a subtitled music video. In my fourth week of activity I noted that by alternating between the video and the translation site “I could listen to the individual words repeatedly on Google translate, then go back and listen to the video, and back again for more words.” Towards the end of my study, I used Google translate similarly in conjunction with a listening / reading site: http://thairecordings.com. Because the recording was at a native speaker speed, I copied and pasted the transcript into Google translate, allowing me to listen to it at a slower speed, as well as to listen to words individually. Both instances of use here indicate not only the principles (Gee, 2004, 2005) and freedoms (Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen, 2009) already discussed, but also a kind of self-initiated scaffolding procedure (Gee, principle four), allowing me to focus on form (Ellis, principle three) while ‘ramping up’ my listening ability.

In my second month of study I noted: “The last two days I’ve been operating in a ‘freer’ fashion, primarily due to camfrog. [Camfrog is a popular video chat room program popular in Thailand.] So I am doing a few things at the same time. I open camfrog before I begin, enter a chat room and click open a few cams. I may or may not start a chat, or one may come in. At the same time I am doing its4thai. And I’ve been going back and re-reading (and editing) my blog posts as well. So I’m doing a bunch of things at once, and it’s a lot more fun.” This kind of activity indicates to me a high degree of agency, both in Gee’s (2005) sense of “a real sense of ownership” (p.6) over what one is doing, and in the sense of agency as a type of freedom of choice. It further demonstrates some of the noted freedoms – of effort, and to experiment. As I remember, chatting served to inform my online activity with an “ambient sociability” (McGonigal, 2011, p. 89) which greatly heightened the feeling of ‘fun’ in my study.

Chatting

With only a rudimentary command of the Thai writing system, I started chatting within the first week of my protracted online Thai language activity. At that time, I wrote: “I have sent a number of simple messages to friends: Hi, สัไบดีใมกุรป, which I now realize is spelled incorrectly.” Indeed, what I lacked was an ability to spell nearly any word in Thai. I did not let this deter me, embracing the attitude of risk-taking Gee (2005) describes, in which we are “encouraged to take risks, explore and try new things.” (p. 5)

Especially during the early weeks of my chatting, I was continuously taking risks and experimenting in my spelling. I typically proceeded with a ‘just give it a try’ type of attitude in my communication, an attitude which not only exhibited some of the ‘freedoms’ of play (notably, freedoms to fail and to experiment), but which resulted in the kind of “real-time feedback” (p. 21) that “provides motivation to keep playing” as described by McGonigal (2011). The following exchange indicates the continuous stream of spelling correction I received from one (offline as well as online) friend:

CS (Christopher Stern): ผมชืนคุณไปกินคาว

KP: ผมชวนคุณไปกินข้าว.

In addition to feedback, this exchange, like nearly all chat exchanges, exhibits several of Ellis’s principles, namely those of: developing a repertoire of formulaic expressions, focusing predominantly on meaning, focusing on form, extensive L2 input, opportunity for output, and opportunity to interact.

In another similar instance I typed:

CS: วินดี

KP: ยินดี

CS: ขอโทษขอโทษผมแคีนภัสาไทไม่จัด

KP: ครับ / ผมเขียนภาษาไทยไม่ ฝ ก่ง / คุณเก่งมาก นะครับ.

Here KP expresses the kind of “vicarious pride” (McGonigal, 2011, p. 86-7) exhibited by individuals who are “actively contributing to the achievement” of others. At another point KP offers some feedback indicating that my ability has improved.

CS: ฝนดกแส็ดแลาว ดอนนีมีแดด

KP: ครับ / คุณเก่งขึ้นมากครับ.

This type of feedback was highly motivating, providing me a kind of ‘happiness jolt’ similar to the feelings of “leveling up” (p. 130), or a mild “fiero” moment (“what we feel when we triumph over adversity”) (McGonigal, 2011, p. 33).

While instances of correction by my Thai interlocutors were most frequent during my first few weeks of chat, they occurred throughout the course of my online activity. This type of feedback allowed me to make quick progress with regard to spelling. However, I typically received such correction only from friends I knew offline as well as online, while, when chatting with strangers I did not receive such feedback.

In another instance, I sent the following CMC text message: คุณเรียนรู้ด้วยตัวเอง. At this time I had just learned this construction (ด้วยตัวเอง) in www.its4thai.com, and recognized this as a good opportunity to try it out in real communication. In doing so I feel I was truly creating my own “well ordered problem,” creating scaffolding which leads one “to form hypotheses that work well for later, harder problems” (Gee, 2005, p. 6), as well as moving naturally from the controlled production encountered in www.its4thai.com to a “free constructed response (e.g. a communicative task)” (Ellis, 2005, p. 8).

In the second month of my study I wrote: “I spent another 40 or 50 minutes chatting on camfrog, as I finally went ahead to pay for camfrog pro. It was fun, and I found I am able to recognize and produce language much faster.” One week later I wrote “I’ve come to the conclusion that I can probably communicate and learn quite a bit more by chatting than I could by having face to face communication.” My reasons for this conclusion are that chat, for me, encouraged me in a number of the “freedoms” described by Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen, far more than face to face communication did. When speaking directly with a native speaker in Thai, I often feel constrained, particularly by the possibilities of not being understood, and of not understanding, and thus feel hesitant to try out any new, untested communication. However, in CMC chat I truly embrace the freedoms to fail and to experiment, knowing that any mistake I make may lead to some useful feedback. Furthermore, chat allows “freedom of effort” in a way which ‘live’ communication does not, as one can, up to a point, take their time in crafting communication. Google translate also offers opportunities for clarification and for instant (JIT) access to the lexis I need to express myself, as well as aiding in “freedom of interpretation.” These observations were mirrored by one of the comments made in an interview with TM (see section 4.1.1 - Chatting). At that time I wrote “This is because I am also being exposed to colloquialisms which I had never noticed in speech. Plus, I have time to work things out at my own pace.” In terms of Ellis’s language learning principles, chatting offered not only opportunity to interact in my L2, but also extensive input and opportunity for output.

One of the main reasons that chatting allowed me the opportunity to solidify and “develop a repertoire of formulaic expressions” (Ellis, 2005, p. 2) is expressed in a comment I made towards the end of my study: “Because I have chatted with so many people, I end up repeating the same entry questions and responses again and again. I’ve learned a lot of spelling and colloquialisms this way.”

To sum up, I feel that chatting in Thai informed my online L2 activity with a number of benefits: ambient and active sociability, input, interaction, investment, welcome interruption, fun, diversion, feedback, variety, exploration, opportunities to build on prior scaffolding, and agency. Finally, perhaps because of interaction with intuitive interlocutors, as well as the JIT information function provided by Google translate, I felt that the language level required of me was almost always one at the boundary of my “zone of proximal development,” thus providing me with exactly the level of “pleasant frustration” needed.

Reading

Although I spent much time reading while chatting, engaging in reading activities specifically is one thing which I did very infrequently. I think that the main reasons for this were the feeling that I needed to devote more time to expanding vocabulary first, and frustration with my still slow reading pace. In short, I was too lazy to read for protracted periods, and found doing so to be not sufficiently interesting or rewarding. This is because, I think, reading long passages was simply too far outside my ZPD, leaving me with a feeling of ‘brain drain.’ Listening intuitively to my “built-in syllabus” indicated that the time was not yet right for doing so.

One of the few sites where I engaged in reading activity specifically was www.thai-language.com. In my second month of activity I wrote “Spent nearly another hour reading FSI lessons on thai-language.com. I am really pleased with how quickly I can read these now and how well I understand.” This was a sign of progress, and felt in many ways like “leveling up.” What I liked about the FSI readings were their modularity, their length (short), and their very gradual introduction of new vocabulary in context. However, I still did not find the stories and content sufficiently compelling to go back to them often. One day I made an attempt to read something from the Thai MSN homepage. However, I was so quickly lost in unfamiliar language that I felt as if I was drowning, and gave up accordingly.

In the last week of my study I wrote: “My reading in Thai is still quite slow, I am lazy to actually sound my way through each and every word to a phrase, and the lack of gaps between words still confounds me. I just can’t fathom why they wouldn’t make it easier on themselves by putting spaces between words. But what still drags me down the most in Thai is my lack of a wide vocabulary.” To me, this comment indicates perhaps a lack of sufficient willingness to focus on form, as well as recognition of my abilities and my own particular “built-in syllabus” (Ellis, 2005, p.5)

Writing

Although I spent relatively little time reading, I made a significant effort to engage in writing. And while it was indeed an effort, it was at times also very fun, both in the sense that I could lose track of time while involved in it (a sign of flow experience), and in the reward of having constructed a piece of written work in Thai.

I purchased a new laptop computer, one equipped with a Thai keyboard, in order to pursue this study. Within the first week of doing so, (after successfully typing out some sentences from an FSI lesson), I wrote: “I feel like the keyboard is something I can tackle now! That brief exercise was very empowering” I recall the feeling to be charging, and highly motivating, easily meeting the classification of what McGonigal (2011) describes as “fiero,” or “what we feel when we triumph over adversity.” (p. 33)

By the second month of my online activity, I had decided to begin blogging in Thai. Aside from chatting, this was the only means by which I engaged in writing in Thai. I titled my blog “แปลกแปลก – ชีวิตคนฝรั่งที่เมืองไทย.” (http://blekkblekk.blogspot.com/) For me, the blog was not merely an exercise in writing, but an opportunity to “fashion an identity” (Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen, 2009, p. 4). In terms of Ellis’s (2005) language learning principles, while blogging clearly was an “opportunity for output,” helping me to “develop a ‘personal voice’” (p.6), the fact that I delayed in doing so indicates a kind of response to my “built-in syllabus,” in which “learners follow a ‘natural’ order and sequence of acquisition.” (p. 5) In terms of Gee’s (2005) ‘good learning principles,’ blogging offered me both agency, in terms of “a real sense of ownership” (p. 6) over what I was doing, and an opportunity for exploration, a non-linear attitude to knowledge acquisition.

In reflecting on blogging in Thai now, I remember many afternoons of quite easily achieving a flow experience with all the things I was doing in Thai. It got my mind actively using Thai in the way that caused much, if not most, of my thinking to proceed in Thai. Blogging was typically something I could keep my mind focused on for perhaps thirty or forty minutes at a time, and then I would want to break to something lighter and easier, such as chatting or its4thai.com. I really stretched my ZPD in blogging, especially with regard to lexis. In fact, I think researching and choosing lexis to access the meanings I wanted took up most of my blogging time. Undoubtedly, I stretched my sentence-building skills in blogging too, but that happened in a more natural and less researched way.

While a very small amount of the vocabulary I exposed myself to at that time is available to me consciously now, (especially as my mind is now in a non-Thai mode), I think that some of it has entered into a long-term and unconsciously available way so that I may use or recognize it at the appropriate or needed time. This reality matches both skill building theory, in which “implicit knowledge arises out of explicit knowledge, when the latter is proceduralized through practice,” (Ellis, 2005, p.4) as well as emergent theories, which consider “implicit knowledge as developing naturally out of meaning-focused communication” (ibid, p. 4)

In my first blog post, I used Thai language to establish my identity: “ผมป็นคนฝรั่งที่อยู่ที่เชียงใหม่มาหนึ่งปีครึ่ง ผมมาเชียงใหม่เพื่อ.” The entire point of this first post, to me, was to explain who I was, and why I was blogging, at the outset of my endeavor. In this way, I was engaging a process of establishing my online Thai identity. While subsequent posts were not so baldly identity-oriented, nonetheless, many served to allow me to “try on” identities (Klopfer, Osterweil & Salen, 2009, p.4) as I further invested in creating my identity as a blogger.

My second post was an exploration of language itself, which for a long time has been a personal interest of mine. In this case I looked at similarities I had found between certain Thai and Indonesian words. Here, in Ellis’s terms, my activity was not so much focused on exercising output as it was specifically on form and meaning. In the sense that blogging allowed me to choose my own topics and pursue whichever line of interest I wanted to at any time, it allowed me to exercise a high degree of agency, “a real sense of ownership” (Gee, 2005, p.6) over my activity, and a sense that I was doing something for myself, and entirely of my own volition. At the time, I wrote: “the feeling of being able to craft a piece of communication in written Thai and have it immediately go up on the net is great.” Later that same week, I also wrote: “It feels really powerful, really great, to be able to put down a piece of useful communication in Thai. And I found it is great help to me to go back and read again what I wrote the day before, solidifying the new vocab I used in old posts. I also notice I am already reading much more quickly now.” While both these statements further convey a sense of agency, looking at them from the aspect of Gee’s good learning principles, they show evidence primarily of customizing (principle two) not only the venue for my learning (the blog), but also the way in which I use the blog – a way which allows me to create my own sets of scaffolding (principle four) and challenge and consolidation (principle five).

Within one month of beginning blogging, I wrote “What I love about writing the blogs is that as I write, as long as I can use Google translate, I don’t feel I am limited at all in what I can say.” Google translate (in many activities, not just blogging), actively served a “JIT” [just in time] and “on demand information” (Gee’s sixth principle) function for me, and facilitated a pleasant level of frustration in my activity, allowing me to keep tasks just within the boundary of my ZPD (Gee’s eighth principle). I concluded this comment by stating “I do hope some people start taking notice of this blog and giving me some feedback.” Unfortunately, aside from my very first post, for which I received nearly immediate feedback from a former teacher, my blogs never did garner any comments. While I could (and still can) gain some satisfaction from tracking the number of viewers I receive each day, I have still never received any comments or feedback. Had this occurred, I am sure that my motivation to continue would have been greater.

As my third, fourth, fifth and seventh blog posts were specifically about videos, I have written about them in the following section on video / Youtube.

My sixth post, although about a common occurrence (I wrote primarily about the burning and resulting pollution during the winter season) in northern Thailand, was also highly personal for me, in that I wrote about this topic because I felt strongly about it. In writing this post, “เกี่ยวกับอากาศที่ประเทศไทย ภาคเหนือ / Regarding the weather in Northern Thailand,” I was exercising agency in the sense described by Gee (2005) as a kind of ownership over what I was doing.

Other efforts were not successful: “after the first days and days of its4thai, I started today by going back and opening the blog post I half completed a few days (a week?) ago, and it was not motivating me. I looked at it and could barely read it. Trying to read what I had written was like trying to swim when not knowing how. I certainly can’t call it comprehensible output. I had been stretching my abilities so far beyond my zpd it was doing me very little if any good.” In some regards I view my use of Google translate not so much as a pair of crutches to keep me from stumbling, but rather, prosthetic legs without which I could not walk. Clearly, this is the case here.

I had one additional unsuccessful experience. I wrote in my learning log: “I have come to realize a reason why I stopped blogging for the meanwhile – I have found other things to do, more appropriate for my ability level, but also, I have a blog post that I never finished, and that is really a bit too difficult for me to write. So, not having finished it, I feel I cannot yet start another one. I cannot ditch it, and I can’t make the effort to finish it. So, I have created a motivational bind for myself. This is instructive in working with students and asking them to write blogs – don’t push too far beyond your capabilities, it will not serve you well.” Here, the principle of pleasant frustration is instrumental – clearly the frustration was not pleasant, and therefore the whole endeavor became demotivating, as well as holding up any further progress. McGonigal (2011) comments on the importance of being able to not only start, but also finish work: “to be truly satisfied, we have to be able to finish our work as clearly as we started it.” (p. 57)

Recalling my first blogging days I wrote “It sure was fun to write for the first three days. I can’t quite imagine writing something using the vocab I’ve learned through its4thai the last three days, about cleaning the room or changing the lightbulbs, or the parts of the face or feeling sick. But I should give it a try.” Here, after recognizing the fun I did have when I made blogging work for me, I imagine the next step I will take, again, working from my own “built-in syllabus” (Ellis), and creating my own “clear goals and actionable next steps” (McGonigal). The attitude is also clearly one of exploration, or, as Gee (2005) describes, a non-linear attitude towards language acquisition. (p.6)

In my ninth post, “ผลไม้,” I made use of vocabulary I had recently seen on www.its4thai.com. Shortly afterwards, I wrote: “This was fun to do, but at the same time it got a little tedious. Not tedious in the way of constantly having to look up vocabulary and consider whether or not it worked correctly where I put it, but in the constraint on topic. I didn’t have to stretch for lexis so much. In fact I modeled these posts off of language I had just recently learned on its4thai, this, for example, being about fruit and food. I always enjoyed getting students to use new vocabulary to make up crazy stories, the crazier the better, and I often helped out pushing stories in crazy directions, although many did not need any help in this department. So after a few sentences here I got bored with the straightforward and varied things a bit, writing about the dog who eats with fork and knife in restaurants.” Perhaps more clearly, or at least in the traditional sense, this post seems to encapsulate elements of play more than any other. In addition to relying on my own built-in syllabus, scaffolding my own well ordered problems, and relying on a kind of system thinking, I am engaging a freedom to fashion, in this case, a whimsical identity.

My tenth blog post, “ที่ห้องผมมี่หลายสิ่งหลายอย่าง / In my room there are many things,” followed a similar pattern. In my learning log I wrote: “I wrote a new blog post as well on the day I reviewed vocab about the house – I wrote about many items in my apartment. And my eighth post was much the same: “I have begun today by taking all the lexis from yesterday’s last its4thai lesson (adjectives to describe people) and used it to write a blog about the kinds of people I like and dislike.”

Clearly these blog posts, (and my reflection upon it,) as well as much of my writing activity, indicate many of the themes outlined, particularly those of Ellis (2005) and Gee (2005). From Ellis, these include focus on meaning (second principle), drawing on the learner’s built-in syllabus (fifth principle), and opportunity for output (seventh principle). From Gee we can see investing in an identity (first principle), scaffolding (fourth principle), challenge and consolidation (fifth principle), contextualization (seventh principle), pleasant frustration (eighth principle), system thinking (tenth principle), agency (twelfth principle), and exploration (thirteenth principle).

Other Skills / Language Notes

Before beginning my online Thai activity, I wrote down some of my feelings about Thai language: “the sets of sounds which must be distinguished – long and short vowels, tones, and aspirated vs. unaspirated consonants – are not sets which we ever bother distinguishing in English, and compounded together, this makes listening, in particular, to Thai, exceedingly difficult.” Prior to learning to read and write, this relative inability to properly focus on form was further compounded by not having a properly representative phonemic system (the Thai alphabet).

Several survey and interview respondents commented on the relative lack of opportunity to practice listening and speaking online, and I concur with their observation. www.its4thai.com, however, provided some listening practice, albeit at a very slow pace. I observed: “Its4thai, in regards to listening, has also given me some insights, as I have seen firsthand now that even slow listening activities can have a major positive impact on real-time listening ability.”

One month later I wrote: “Yesterday I found a site which states: ‘There is a lack of material for intermediate learners of Thai. While many websites cover the basics, there are only limited resources available for more advanced learners. This website tries to contribute to closing this gap.’ (http://thairecordings.com) This site provided downloadable sound files, all at a native speaker speed, with corresponding transcripts. All the material was at an upper intermediate level and highly colloquial. While this material was very challenging for me, it was nonetheless at a roughly appropriate level, enough so that I proceeded. However, I recognized many shortcomings in the way the material was presented, which could be addressed through technology. I noted: “Some features I would like to see with this sort of activity: the listening would benefit by offering adjustable speed; further benefit would be gained through integration with the transcript, by which each word is highlighted as it is heard; scroll-over translation for the transcript (per word) would be very helpful; finally, some comprehension questions, even in multiple choice form (to offer instant feedback) would go a long way in making this an activity which truly engages the listener / reader. These deficiencies point towards the experience I’ve had with this particular medium: While helpful, it is frustrating – being able to listen only at native speaker speed doesn’t allow one to ‘ramp up’ their ability.”

The reading / listening I worked on was about a trip to the beach. At the time, I made some notes on how I addressed some of the deficiencies noted above as best I could: “I’ve been reading it word for word, and copying and pasting into Google translate every single word I do not know or don’t recognize …I am also amazed at how many individual words I did not know, and yet how much meaning I was able to get.” It is obvious that ‘top-down’ schemata theories were really working here. In terms of Gee’s principles, this fits as representing “situated meaning” or “contextualization” (seventh principle). “…I admit, I have been engrossed, and while not really fun, I have easily lost track of time.” Clearly, I was enmeshed in a flow experience, yet, interestingly, not really having ‘fun.’

Directed Activities

Because sites designed by and for native Thais were far too challenging for me, I spent the bulk of my online Thai activity using sites designed for the study of Thai by non-native speakers, which of course always included directed activities for doing so. The first such site I used was www.thai-language.com.

In the first week of my study I wrote: “Just found www.thai-language.com, as recommended to me by my friend CH. I feel very enthusiastic about this. In the FSI language course section there are numerous dialogues, which I am now capable of reading, even without the phonetics, and I took about an hour or so to copy out two of them by hand. I think I might go buy a keyboard tomorrow and try their Thai typing game.”

Many of the directed activities on sites designed specifically for learning Thai have game-like elements. Following, I describe one of these activities on www.thai-language.com: “I’ve spent the last hour and a half using thai-language.com’s one syllable tone quiz, in which I am presented with a one syllable word written in Thai script only, a sound icon and a choice of five buttons representing the 5 tones to click on. I’ve started by trying to pronounce the word first, then listen, then choose the tone.” Here, by pronouncing before listening, my goal is clearly to focus on form, and make use of rule-based competence to the degree I have developed it. I continue, commenting “Although I did not do very well at first, as I still have a hard time remembering and applying all the tone rules, as soon as I took out my charts for character class, final endings and tone markers, I started doing really well.” Here, I am returning to examine explicit knowledge, hopefully while internalizing it so that it becomes implicit.

Following, I describe how the mechanism provides continuous feedback: “A percentage tracker keeps track of how many words you have indicated correct tones for, and it is marked against for each wrong attempt, even on the same word.” Finally, I indicate the likelihood of having achieved a kind of flow experience in writing “I had originally planned to dedicate only one hour, and because I was having so much fun, (and waiting for a word “smelly” to come up again – it didn’t) I kept going for an hour and a half.”

Another feature of www.thai-language.com is a vast collection of resources of specific aspects of the Thai language, which I describe here: “I went to thai-language and found two pages, one on prefixes, and the other on Pali and Sanskrit based prefixes. The latter are extensive, and I am fascinated, because so many of them bear resemblance to Indonesian words.”

At about one month into my study I discovered another site, www.its4thai.com. Most of the activities on this site loosely follow the game-like multiple choice format I have described above. I was almost immediately hooked. I wrote: “Yesterday I spent all three (and a half) of my online study hours doing ALL the free activities as its4thai.com. I’ve decided to pay the 249 Baht per month for two months for this site as it seems definitely worth the price.”

I explain my attraction to this site’s activities: “after days of stretching myself posting blogs in which I have to look up a third to half the vocabulary and really think things through thoroughly, and never be entirely sure if I’ve really got it right, it was a real joy to work through exercises and get things right nearly every single time, while actually having to think a little bit too.” Clearly blogging was becoming too frustrating, and I wasn’t getting any feedback. These activities offered the contrast of being well on the other (interior) side of my ZPD, and offered plenty of immediate feedback, both visual and auditory. And they quickly engaged me in a flow experience: “It kept me going for three hours without much thought to the time going by.” I describe the activities offered as follows: “Each unit has a fairly predictable format, either being grammar or lexis based (grouped by topic – ie. fruit and veg.). The vocab/grammar is first presented, then you can review it, with Thai script, English meaning, picture, sound and phonetic script all presented in the same frame.” Thus we see Ellis’s focus on meaning (principle three), focus on form (four), and extensive L2 input (six). Additionally, the learner can customize (Gee’s third principle) the interface as one “can choose if you wish to choose from a choice of four or eight possibilities.” The site offers further means of customization, from a selection of sounds for correct and incorrect answers to “being able to flag words for my own vocab list. The system also flags words answered incorrectly for remedial work.” The final activities are: “Next, listen and choose from English definitions, and for grammar portions finally sentence arrangement – level one inserting one word in the sentence from a choice of about eight (the sentence is given in English), level two arranging all the words to put the sentence together.” And this same format holds for each of approximately 30 lessons offered on the site. I comment on some of the aspects I enjoy most, saying “this set of activities gave me a lot of COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT and only occasionally put me at the edge of my ZPD. I had more chance to focus on form at a simple level – pron and spelling.” I also recognize immediately how well this site fits my immediate need of broadening my lexis: “it is providing me with LOTS of useful vocabulary – and I do recognize that at this point in my learning, what I need to do more than anything else is build vocabulary.”

I additionally comment on some of the drawbacks of www.its4thai.com: “The real downside of this site is lack of any contextualization or any story building, or any true production activities. What I’d like to see additionally from its4thai is more production exercises, specifically ones following the sentence arrangement activities where one has to actually type out, rather than simply arrange responses.”

For the most part though, I felt very positively about its4thai, and came back to it on an almost daily basis. Some of the other positive features: “I really enjoy scoring the 100% scores, seeing the progress bars completed, as long as I’m being exposed to maybe about 5% - 8% new language items. If now and then it is less or more than this it is ok.” Also: “The perpetual next question / challenge aspect of it, just as with the typing exercise (which I did this morning – a slow cascade of Thai characters, which one must type one at a time before they reach the bottom of the screen) is hard to leave off from.”

Finally, I state: “I love its4thai. I have become completely addicted.” Afterwards, I begin to think about why this is so. “What makes its4thai so addictive? I think more than any other factor, it is that learning has been broken down into discrete, achievable tasks.” Additionally, it is automaticity: “you don’t have to do any thinking about how to do it, but only do it.” In ‘Exploiting the neuroscience of Internet addiction,’ Davidow (The Atlantic, 2012) states “Gaming companies talk openly about creating a "compulsion loop," which works roughly as follows: the player plays the game; the player achieves the goal; the player is awarded new content; which causes the player to want to continue playing with the new content and re-enter the loop.” He continues his explanation as follows: “achieving a goal or anticipating the reward of new content for completing a task can excite the neurons in the ventral tegmental area of the midbrain, which releases the neurotransmitter dopamine into the brain's pleasure centers. This in turn causes the experience to be perceived as pleasurable. As a result, some people can become obsessed with these pleasure-seeking experiences and engage in compulsive behavior such as a need to keep playing a game, constantly check email, or compulsively gamble online” (Davidow, 2012)

In addition to becoming compulsive, I became very competitive with myself, and, because I could, began to accept only perfection: “I’ve just become obsessive about finishing every activity with 100% accuracy, especially the final sentence formation activities. This is achieved by ditching any activity at the point where one makes a mistake and reloading it. The activity is scored only after you hit the ‘I know this item’ button after the last exercise, so you can avoid a low score this way. It took me three tries to get through the last activity and I was getting pissed off and a bit careless towards the end, but I got there.” In addition to perfectionist tendencies, this statement indicates a propensity for customization and an excessive focus on form.

However, after time I began to notice other drawbacks as well. I commented, “Yesterday I got a bit fed up with its4thai. This was because I decided to work through one of the vocab lessons, and it included the names for each finger, which I thought was fairly useless information for me.” I found this very demotivating and remember leaving off further activity on its4thai for a while at this point. Another point that began to annoy me was the predictability and lack of variety. I wrote: “I am beginning to find the format of its4thai a bit too rote.” Finally, I began to feel that its4thai was not really helping me that much with acquiring spelling knowledge or improving my reading speed. Towards the end of my study I commented in my learning log: “aside from words that I have actually produced (typed) frequently and a few that I have read frequently, I still read very slowly – my recognition is poor. Its4thai has actually provided very poor preparation in this regard – I have ended up not truly reading and sounding through everything, for one because I get the audio, and two because I never have to actually spell anything.” This comment is related to the one above regarding production activities, in that such activities would go far in addressing this issue.

Virtual Environments and Games

As with a large number of both English and Thai language learners, I spent no time using virtual environments, and very little time playing what are typically considered “games.” In this case, with this word “games” I mean to indicate all variety of computer games aside from those that, formally, are closer to quizzes or tests – multiple choice answers, and time-based selection challenges. Before even beginning my online L2 activity, I had written: “it doesn’t seem all that good a match to my personality or at least to my present habits …with the exception of chatting, these [things which I propose doing, including playing games] are not things I do online in English anyway.”

Nonetheless, a number of activities that I did do on sites designed for language study, such as www.its4thai.com or www.thai-language.com, consisted of varieties of multiple choice answers or time-based selection challenges. The first of these was a typing game offered on the latter site. Within the first week of my study, I wrote: “I can now report that the Thai Typing game is really cool, mentally exhausting, and a sure way to quickly increase my Thai typing speed. It is really cool being able to recognize and say almost every single character that comes up (with the exception of some of the infrequently used characters), and now, to be able to type them quickly too.” The factors making this activity fun for me are some of those identified by McGonigal (2011) as mechanisms for provoking positive emotion, namely “fun failure” (p. 64) and multiple feedback systems (p. 24).

The following week I spent time on a game-like quiz on the same site. I wrote: “Now I’ve just spent time testing myself on consonant classes and found I did quite well. I also now recognize there are still some consonants whose names I do not know. Time to go back to the flash cards. Multiple choice activities like these I find to be both brain numbing and enjoyable at the same time.” Although not games per se, what makes such multiple choice activities trigger positive emotion like games are their similar mechanisms, notably those of ‘fun failure’ and feedback, as mentioned above, along with “clear goals and actionable next steps.” (McGonigal, 2011, p. 55) Additionally, the goals provided were all appropriately at the boundary of my ZPD, thus providing the kind of “pleasant frustration” (Gee, 2005, p. 7) necessary to keep me interested.

Moreover, in this case as well, I found that such activities spurred on a competitive side of my personality. In the following month I wrote: “Then went back to the tone game, determined to reach 100 words with 100% accuracy … Much later in the day. YES, I DID IT! 100/100 100% correct. STOKED!” This is clearly a “fiero” moment for me, the kind of feeling that makes us want to “throw our arms over our head and yell.” (McGonigal, 2005, p. 33)

A later comment indicates the way I viewed my activity: “I just goofed around doing the typing game and the tone game on thai-language, but I did well - about 83% for the typing, and 87% for the tones, without listening (audio doesn’t work today on this site) and rarely, almost never looking at tone rules chart.” Clearly, I did not regard this as serious study; rather, the phrase ‘goofed around’ indicates I viewed this more as play. And yet, I was at the same time quite competitive and results-driven, as evidenced by my score-keeping. Finally, the fact that I had finally put aside tone chart rules and audio, and simply worked out tones successfully based on the characters themselves indicates, in Ellis’s terms, both a focus on form and the development of implicit knowledge. (Ellis, 2005, p. 4)

Finally, I explain my lack of affinity for games as a function of my personality. I wrote: “I think overall I am not much of a fun and games type of person. Sure I like to laugh and have a good time as much as anyone (maybe not quite as much), but I have also always been quite serious and driven as a student …This is just me; I’m not a games-oriented person.” In fact, I have always taken pride in my academic work, and this is where I exercise the greatest sense of agency as a “real sense of ownership” (Gee, 2005, p. 6). David DiSalvo (2011), in What makes your brain happy and why you should do the opposite, writes “For students motivated to achieve excellence, making tasks entertaining may actually undermine their performance …trying to force yourself into a motivational mold not sized for your personality probably isn’t going to work.” (p. 102) Thus, it is worth noting that while game-based learning may be appropriate for a large number of students, it may be less appropriate or effective for others. This is clearly an area for further research.

Video

Like most of the language learners surveyed, I also spent a good deal of my Internet-mediated activity time watching videos in my target language on Youtube. I began doing so just at the point in time that I started blogging. Thus, some of my earliest blog posts are based around videos I had watched.

The first such video I discovered was that of Stuart Jay Raj. In my third week of study I wrote the following: “I’ve been watching a lot of Youtube today, and I’ve discovered someone brilliant, Stuart Jay Raj, polyglot who fluently speaks, reads and writes over 20 languages. But his Thai is absolutely phenomenal, and what makes me so stoked to watch him, is that I feel I can actually begin to understand really fast spoken Thai.” However, that comprehension came, really, only with the concerted effort to learn some new vocabulary (by using the English subtitles in tandem with Google translate). This was a step I took later. My first effort at watching this video, as with all others, was a very relaxed, receptive activity. And my memory of watching videos in Thai is one of taking time off, or goofing off, exploring and having fun. This was not something I considered as ‘study’ or ‘work.’ This is reflected in the inverted commas I used in the following note I wrote in my learning log : “I spent much of my 2 hours and 43 minutes of ‘study’ today watching videos on Youtube, of which I understood very little, but the little that I did understand was gratifying. And I learned how to say ‘bottle opener’ which is useful.” Out of all the activities I did, I think that watching videos, even when I understood very little, was the least stressful and most amusing activity I could do.

However, I quickly discovered that for me to gain much of any benefit from videos, I had to use them systematically. So, I began to follow some advice I used to often give students with regard to video: I chose a video which interested me, which I could understand much of, and which had subtitles. I watched it numerous times, I noted down vocabulary I needed to look up, I looked it up, I studied, and I watched and listened again, and again. I outline this process in my second blog post :วิธีการใช้youtubeเรียนภาษา. While I already had some ideas about how to best use video for language learning, the process was, for me, clearly an exercise in exploration, as well as a chance for me to tap into my own “built-in syllabus” (Ellis, 2005, p. 5)

At the time of creating that blog post, I wrote in my learning log: “Today I wrote another blog post, my third in four days. Feels great. It took me less than two hours, and I think I did a pretty good job. I used quite a bit of new vocabulary, repeatedly. The post is about how I’ve used Youtube, specifically part one of a five part show with SJRaj in Thai about learning languages, and my process of watching the video clip repeatedly, looking at the subtitles (English) for the words I don’t know, looking them up on www.translategoogle.com, studying them, and then going back and watching again and again and then finding an opportunity (in the blog) to use those words.” Clearly, I was engaging a number of the freedoms of play here: to fail, to experiment, of effort, and of interpretation. And the time I put into doing it as well as the tone in which I wrote about it afterwards indicate a flow experience. Furthermore, the process relied on a number of Ellis’s principles in addition to that of a “built-in syllabus,” notably focus on meaning and form, extensive input and opportunity for output. Finally, I was the one who created this process for myself, and it was one in which I decided and pursued my own “clear goals and actionable next steps” (McGonigal, 2011, p. 55)

Later on, recalling this particular video, I wrote: “Stuart Jay Raj was cool. I was really stoked when I discovered SJ. I remember listening and feeling that if I knew all the vocabulary he used, I would be able to clearly make out everything he was saying, and imitate it, because I felt his speaking, compared to most Thai people, was incredibly clear. I also appreciated how well he spoke Indonesian, clearly and with a West Javanese accent as well. And I enjoyed seeing a farang being able to speak Thai so well.” Recall that TK, a Thai language learner interviewed, had also commented on enjoying seeing foreigners who can speak Thai well.

My fourth blog post was also centered on a video: “ข้อเท็จจริงเกี่ยวกับประวัติพลังObama / The Facts about President Obama's Energy Record.” At the time, I wrote in my learning log: “I wrote another language blog post today, using one of Obama’s campaign videos, and got really wrapped up in it, going into overtime, 3:31 total. As usual, its work, but I had fun doing it.” Again, the language I have used here indicates, to me, a flow experience. And my choice of this particular video was very wrapped up, for me, in fashioning an “identity” (Klopfer, Osterweil & Salen’s third ‘freedom’), as well as Gee’s (2005) concept of agency as “a real sense of ownership over what they are doing.” (p. 6)

A few weeks later I wrote: “Clearly my identity was tied up in this post. I have been avidly watching the election, hating the Republicans, and somewhat less vigorously liking the Democrats, and I am sure I wrote this hoping that someone might read this and I could convince them at least of understanding my opinion here.”

My third blog post based on a video is somewhat more instructive in examining how I didn’t do it that in how I did. This is because I had made a similar attempt previously, and learned from it. In this post I linked three song videos, each song containing the word “อธิบาย”. For each song, I made some comments, and concluded with the observations: “ผู้ชายก็ใช้คำว่า "ฉัน" บ่อย ๆ / ที่๒ อธิบายมีลวดลาย "ช่วยอธิบายให้ฉันเข้าใจหนอย" และ "อธิบายกับฉัน.” What I did not do is attempt to translate the songs. In a previous post, which I never published, I had tried to do this. I wrote about this as follows: “I have been working exactly 1 hour 12 minutes 49.61 seconds on translating a Thai song for my new blog. Typing is still quite slow for me, although I know the location of many / most characters now. That was brain draining, but I feel I’ve accomplished something.”

Later, I wrote “I remember working on this and being able to both read and hear the Thai very clearly. And I understood a great many of the individual words. But then looking at the way they were put together made just a little but overall no sense to me. Google translate just made it even more confusing trying to translate, as the pragmatic meanings differed so greatly from the semantic. Ultimately I gave up. I did not finish translating the song, and I did not publish this particular blog post. The next time I wrote about songs I did not attempt to translate them.”

Watching video online as a language learning exercise can be done in many ways. Without the application of any technique, it is one of the easiest and most passive activities to pursue, and in this regard it is clearly fun and often engaging. Being able to understand the language in a video, often with the help of contextual clues is additionally rewarding. But, in order to use video to truly make progress in language learning, in order to push the boundaries of one’s ability, technique has to be applied.

Feelings of Improvement / Noticing

In several cases in my learning log I made note of noticing: noticing new (aspects of) language within the activity I was doing, noticing forms, and noticing improvement in my ability. In my second month of study I wrote: “I have been looking at minimal pairs in order to learn some spellings and tones of common words, then on to the tone quiz. I can now figure out almost all of the tones according to the rules without having to refer to them and this feels like improvement.” With regard to Ellis’s language learning principles, clearly I had done the work to develop rule based competence (first principle), maintaining a focus on form (third principle), and while not neglecting explicit knowledge, developing implicit knowledge (fourth principle). Because this tone quiz activity works by endlessly providing another single syllable word to look at and decipher the tone, it has clear goals and actionable next steps (McGonigal’s third ‘mechanism’).

About one month into my study, and after an afternoon of chatting extensively, I had noted “It was fun, and I found I am able to recognize and produce language much faster.” A few days later I wrote: “I’m almost surprised at how fluent my reading has become …my spoken Thai, and listening have improved as well. A friend even commented last week.” Clearly, I was noticing a lot of improvement in my abilities. Two weeks later, with regard to noticing language used in chat, I wrote: “I am noticing a lot of unconventional spellings, a lot of truncation of sentences, and I’m recognizing a LOT more spellings and words, to the point where I often don’t have to use Google translate anymore at all.” However, aside from truncation of sentences – missing subjects and contraction of words – I do not recall noticing new grammatical constructions during chat. However, I certainly do recall noticing and taking interest in structures I saw both on www.thai-language.com and www.thairecordings.com.

What I recognized most clearly was the positive effect my online activity had on my ability to communicate in Thai offline. This is expressed in the quote above, as well as in the following statement, written towards the end of my study: “I went out to take care of an errand yesterday and the young woman at the store complemented me on how good my Thai was.”

Positive Feelings

I have cited numerous instances of positive feelings in the above sections. Like the language learners surveyed, I too felt less worried about making mistakes when chatting than in person, as noted. However, I clearly felt, much of the time (but definitely least of all when chatting), that my online activity was indeed very much like studying, more than playing. And, while I thoroughly agree that the online environment is a very good medium for learning Thai, overall, I feel I would have learned more had I invested an equal period of time in a communication-based Thai language classroom.

Nonetheless, I made a large number of overwhelmingly positive comments in my learning log. At the outset of my study, I remarked “deciding on and engaging in this pursuit has made me really optimistic about learning Thai – especially in the ways I know I need to learn: nailing down tones correctly, and expanding my vocabulary.” What stands out in this comment is its relation to agency – the freedom to direct my activity as I wish, and agency’s direct ability to cause positive affect, as well as my own knowledge of where I need to focus – my personal “built-in syllabus.” In the second month of my study I commented: “I have had a wonderful day online. The time flew. I created two blog entries for แบลกๆ, and I really didn’t notice the time passing.” Clearly, the predominant feeling on this day was one of flow experience.

Even on days when I was less keen on my online Thai activity, I maintained an appreciation for the agency integral to my activity. I wrote: “I hardly lose track of time or get thoroughly absorbed. I do however, enjoy the sense of doing whatever I want to do at the moment. But I’m also feeling I need to expand my choices– blog posts, thai-language.com, chatting (not always available), and Google translate just are not a wide enough range of choices anymore.” Agency here is not merely a matter of “doing whatever I want to do at the moment,” but also a sense of knowing what I want to do, which comes from knowing what I need to do. This aspect of a learner’s being able to access his or her own “built-in syllabus” and make use of that contribute greatly to agency, and thus, to both learner autonomy and motivation.

Negative Feelings / Difficulties

On some days the time simply did not pass by simply or enjoyably. Rather, it really felt like work. About a month into my study I wrote: “After two hours it’s starting to feel like, oh, I HAVE to do another hour.”

At other times, rather than an overall feeling of malaise, it was specific things which annoyed me: “into one hour ten minutes of the tone checker quiz on thai-language.com, and two things are annoying me. One is the frequency with which the word การณ์ / gaan / event; cause; reason; root; characteristics comes up – it seems I’ve seen it at least 10 times this hour, and many times yesterday. The other is one woman’s voice, which is so grating, so awful, it is exactly the type of voice which makes me think of Thai as a horrible sounding language”

In addition to system glitches and particular voices, Google translate gave me regular frustration: “Meanings in translation seem to become nebulous, and that is not gratifying. Google translate really is a disaster, a mechanism which if used wrongly, without many grains of salt, just adds fire to the occasional feeling that Thai simply is not appropriate for actually communicating, that it just does not function as a language the way English does,” and “Worked on that song a bit more today, Google translate really does provide a lot of s#!t at times and it can be really demotivating to be confronted with a bunch of otherwise simple looking language that just doesn’t make much sense.”

At other times, however, it was the internet itself which caused frustration, and this pause allowed me some appreciation of Google translate. “The internet is still so slow right now, I can’t even bother. What’s the use without Google translate?” This comment points, again, to the important JIT function Google translate provided me throughout much of my activity.

As other Thai language learners mentioned regarding their experiences with Thai-only websites, I too felt a huge degree of difficulty when sites were only in Thai. At one point I tried changing my Facebook settings to Thai, and as a result commented: “I tried changing the settings to Thai language, but I can’t deal with this.” Dealing in a Thai only online environment was clearly outside my personal ZPD. Even towards the end of my study I wrote “any material created for Thai native speakers is almost entirely beyond me – despite being serious about my studies, trying to wade through even a few sentences is simply the antithesis of fun.”

Finally, towards the end of my period of online activity, I felt I had really reached my limit in spending time online. I wrote: “I reached a complete internet / computer interface burnout stage yesterday after about 2 hours. I think I am just not sufficiently computer oriented to spend more than 2 or 3 hours per day at the computer,” As I read this, I think back to my original prediction of possibly spending up to ten hours in a day online, and I realize now how completely this possibility does not match my personality profile.

Outliers

A few comments I made in my learning log fell outside any of the above categories. The first is regarding the differences between learning Thai and English online. I wrote the following: “I’ve also realized there must be some significant differences between trying to learn Thai and trying to learn English online. 1. Most sites dedicated to learning Thai online feature a LOT of English instruction / explanation / etc. Except perhaps for some specialized sites created by Thais, I don’t think the same will be true of sites for learning English. … For those learning English, most of the sites I’ve seen feature copious verbiage explaining intricacies of vocabulary and grammar (even very low level grammar) IN ENGLISH! It must be thoroughly frustrating for the non-native learner (especially one who uses a different alphabet).” I realize that I made this statement while considering only sites for the directed study of English written in English. While I am not aware of any such sites with the major portion of explanation given in Thai, I do know that they exist in Spanish, French or German.

The second comment concerns one last unmentioned factor in my motivation to return again and again to www.its4thai.com: “the fact that I have paid for it and that I have a ‘use by’ date attached to it as well, and a finite number of lessons to finish – at this point about ¼ of them remaining, make me feel obligated.” In this sense, clearly there is value in paying for something rather than getting it for free – even if there exists the possibility of getting two comparable things, one free and one not.

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

2012-12-23T19:41:00.002-08:00

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

In this study, I used mixed research methods to examine the notions of play, agency and positive emotion within the context of Internet-mediated second language activity. However, my research is primarily qualitative, with quantified data being used mostly to shed light on any differences or similarities between English or Thai L2 learners and their activity, and to “substantiate patterns observed in and interpretations suggested by the qualitative data” (Nunan & Bailey, 2009, p. 454) Therefore, greater weight is given in this study to qualitative data.

The qualitative portion of the research comprises both data obtained through interviews of Thai and English learners regarding their online L2 activity, and a first-person ethnographic study of my own personal online Thai language activity. As noted in Chapter Two, a number of theories or frameworks were put in place prior to undertaking either endeavor, in line with advice on Vanderbuit University’s webpage concerning qualitative research: “Before beginning your observation, interview, survey, or other fieldwork, be sure to identify the theories, concepts, and themes that you are investigating. Formulating a fieldwork hypothesis is akin to a developing a research question. Identify your own ideas and expectations about the situation. Being aware of these will help you as you observe, allowing you to collect data more neutrally, instead of fitting the data to match your expectations.” (Vanderbuilt Univ.)

Cresswell (2003) describes qualitative research as being emergent and interpretive, using a variety of research instruments, and taking place in the subject’s natural setting. He further states that there is “a cycling back and forth from data collection and analysis to problem reformulation and back.” (p. 183) Thus, while I began my research with a set of frameworks to guide me, feedback from survey results, as well as my personal experiences in conducting a first person ethnography led me to new insights which served to further inform the direction taken in subsequent interviews, as well as to new perspectives from which to examine the multiple instruments of the ethnography – language log, chat transcripts, and online blog. This falls in line with Orlikowski and Hoffman’s (1997) observation regarding technological change, that while research must be planned, any such plan should be regarded not as a blueprint but as a guide. Similarly, Vanderbuilt University’s website states: “Sometimes, writing ethnographies requires us to have a research question or hypothesis before doing research. Other times, we might develop a hypothesis out of the research we have done.” (Vanderbuilt Univ.)

The foremost tool of the ethnography, employed in my learning log, is that of ‘thick description’ (Geertz, 1973; Ponterotto, 2006; Ryle, 1971). “This type of description aims to give readers a sense of the emotions, thoughts and perceptions that research participants experience. It deals not only with the meaning and interpretations of people in a culture but also with their intentions. Thick description builds up a clear picture of the individuals and groups in the context of their culture and the setting in which they live” (Holloway, 1997, p. 154) In the case of first-person ethnography, the instrument of ‘thick description’ becomes all the more natural and intuitive, as my emotions, thoughts and perceptions as a subject, are immediately accessible.

This leads to the possibility that interpretation of emotions, thoughts and perceptions in this case becomes purely subjective, resulting in either greater validity, or greater subjectivity, which ostensibly infers an equal loss of objectivity. Ponterotto (2006, p. 542) contends that “a central component of “thick description” is the interpretation of what is being observed or witnessed.” Likewise, he states, “thick description refers to the researcher’s task of both describing and interpreting observed social action (or behavior) within its particular context …” (p.543) If a central component is interpretation, as a participant-observer, the process of interpretation is de facto, entirely subjective. Geertz (1973, cited in Ponterotto, 2006, p.539 ) believed that the data of anthropological writing was “really our own constructions of other people’s constructions of what they and their compatriots are up to.” If this is the case, then the position of participant-observer potentially garners greater validity, in that it removes one layer of construction in arriving at its interpretations. And interpretation is the end-point of description in qualitative research. As Ponterotto (2006, p. 543) states: “Thick description leads to thick interpretation, which in turns leads to thick meaning of the research findings for the researchers and participants themselves, and for the report’s intended readership.”

3.2 Participants and Research Instruments

3.2.1 Part I – Study of Thai and English Language Learners

The first portion of the research had two participant pools. The first pool of participants consisted of English language learners, of varying nationalities, for whom English is a foreign language. They ranged in age from mid teens to over fifty, with 50% of participants in the 26 – 35 year age range. Participants were self-chosen (volunteer) and obtained through convenience sampling. Contrary to the traditional view of convenience sampling, in which participants chosen are “the nearest individuals” (Nunan & Bailey, 2009, p. 128), convenience in this case occurred through Internet-mediated proximity. The survey was promulgated through my network of friends, former students, and former and current colleagues. As a result, the majority of participants were located in Southeast Asia, primarily in Indonesia and Thailand, but also included Burmese (Myanmar) and Iranian nationals. .

The second pool of participants consisted of Thai language learners, of varying nationalities, for whom Thai is a second language. They ranged in age from eighteen to fifty, and were primarily native speakers of English, with the addition of one native speaker of Khmer, one of French, and one of Hmong. These participants were primarily self-chosen (volunteer) and obtained through similar convenience sampling. The survey was promulgated through former Thai language classmates, as well as the Thai and Southeast Asian Studies Program at Payap University and the Thai language program at A.U.A. (American Alumni Association, Chiang Mai). While most participants were located in Thailand, one was in Cambodia, and one in the US. The salient characteristic of all participants, in addition to their being non-native speakers of either Thai or English, is that they are Internet-users. This characteristic was assured through the nature of the research instruments – surveys which were only accessible online.

Participants were selected for interviews based on a number of factors. From the first pool of volunteer participants (English language learners), I made selection giving preference to those who indicated the greatest number of years learning English, the greatest number of hours spent in online English activity, and use of the greatest variety of Internet-mediated modalities. Additionally, those most forthcoming with detailed responses to open-ended questions received preference.

Research Instruments

               The research instruments for the first portion of the research are two highly similar online surveys (questionnaires), followed, in a number of cases, by interviews.  I initially created the survey for English language learners based on a number of factors.  These include theories and technologies presented in the literature review, and personal experience as an Internet user, as a language learner, and as a language teacher.  The survey for Thai language learners was then modeled on the first survey for English language learners.  Print copies are provided in Appendix A.  As can be seen from the questions in the surveys, their purpose was to determine the various ways in which users (learners) make use of different Internet-mediated activities in English or Thai, respectively, and the degree to which they experience positive affect (“fun”) in relation to those differing activities.  These surveys were trialed for feedback with over ten different people, including professional academics, students and teachers, and were then modified according to feedback.  Adding further to the reliability of the surveys, the Internet based system hosting the surveys prevented any individual from taking any survey more than once.  It also randomly shifted the order of multiple-choice answers in order to counteract potential answer preference based on layout location.

These surveys were followed by a limited number of online and live interviews. From among the first pool of volunteer participants, I chose three individuals to interview regarding their Internet-mediated English language activity. The interviews were conducted in English. They were informal and semi-structured, and generally followed the topics of the online survey in roughly the same order, while probing into specifics for more detail. Interviews were conducted by means of synchronous chat (CMC), through either MSN, Facebook or Skype, and included usage of emoticons in order to allow participants to better convey emotion.

The same set of factors was applied in selecting the second pool of volunteer participants (Thai language learners) to be interviewed, reflecting Thai language activity respectively. The interviews were conducted in English. As with the first set of interviews, these too were informal and semi-structured, and generally followed the topics of the online survey in roughly the same order, while probing into specifics for more detail. However, these interviews were conducted by either in person or via Skype, utilized spoken word rather than CMC, and were video recorded. The purpose for doing so was to provide greater insight into the emotional tone of the participants as they recounted various aspects of their Internet-mediated Thai language activity.

3.2.2 Part 2 - Ethnography

In the ethnographic portion of the research, I was both the sole participant and sole observer, that is to say, a participant-observer. As participant, I conducted research (which is to say, engaged in internet-mediated Thai language learning/usage activity) daily through the use of various internet platforms, both mobile device (Samsung galaxy Y) and computer. I had predicted that the platforms I would most frequently use would consist of sites designed specifically for language learning, such as thai-language.com (http://www.thai-language.com), Google translate (http://translate.google.com), chat, as available through Facebook (http://www.facebook.com), MSN (www.hotmail.com), and camfrog (www.camfrog.com). These platforms seemed to be the ones most suited my learning level at the time I conceived my research, and I therefore predicted they would be most likely be the sites I would use with the greatest frequency. However, I also predicted that as my ability increased, I might also include use of Facebook games, blogging (both for reading and writing), and possible MMORPGs (of which WoW is only one example). In order to maintain the greatest sense of agency and play, it was important that I not be prescriptive in regards to which variety of platforms I might use, but rather, pick and choose and naturally gravitate towards whichever seemed to suit my language level and mood at any particular time. Nonetheless, I kept a regular minimal level of daily activity of three hours per day, totaling over 160 hours.

Prior to beginning my study, I had written the following background on myself as participant: I consider myself to be multi-lingual, having learned and at certain points in my life spoken fluently a number of languages, including French, Mandarin, Japanese, and Indonesian. I learned all of these languages through instructed study, with the exception of Indonesian, which I seemed to ‘pick up’ (acquire) rather naturally, without any formal instruction, and with very little self study, over a period of eleven years living in Bali. While I do not actively use any of the other languages at this point (although I rather passively watch a good deal of subtitled French TV and film), I continue to use Indonesian on a very regular (almost daily) basis through chatting and text messaging. Presently, I have lived in Thailand for one and a half years, and have had 180 hours of classroom instruction in Thai listening and speaking, and approximately 60 hours of classroom instruction in Thai reading and writing. Primarily because of the drastic differences between the phonemic systems of English and Thai, I can say without hesitation that I have found Thai to be by far the most difficult of any languages I have ever learned. As a result, my attitude towards the learning of Thai has not been as optimistic, or at times enthusiastic, as my learning of other languages has been. Socially, I have found friendship with non-English speaking Thais to be elusive, and so, although I live in Thailand, I have very few friends with whom I speak in Thai on even as much as a weekly basis. While I have found it difficult to befriend Thais in person, I have found them more eager to (text) chat online, provided they can speak a bit of English, or I can type and read a bit of Thai.

In retrospect, I should also add that I have never been a ‘gamer.’ That is to say, I have never really spent any time playing computer games, aside from the occasional game of solitaire, since the time I was in junior high school, at which point the most sophisticated game available for play in one’s home was Pong. This in turn had implications for my study, which I discuss in more detail in the Results of the Study.

Research Instruments

As a researcher I tracked my activity through a number of instruments. First of all, I kept a daily learning log, in which I made notes focusing on my internet-mediated experience, particularly in relation to the elements of agency, positive affect and play, and, of course, any clear evidence of learning. I also kept records (transcripts) of chat activity. Within two weeks into my study I started my own blog, and posted blogs in Thai or about Thai. Many of my earlier posts were trilingual, in Thai, English, and Indonesian. This was an activity and instrument which served purposes of both participant and observer at the same time.

An additional element of instrumentation used was an entry and exit proficiency test of my Thai ability. While progress in my ability level should have become evident through improvement in the quality of my chat dialogs and blog posts, in order to add greater validity and reliability to any assessment of my language ability, an additional instrument was included. Entry and exit tests were standard tests used at Payap in their Thai language program, and consisted of both a reading test and an oral interview. It should be noted here that any such tests serve only as an addendum, rather than as core instruments of my study, as the primary foci of my study are not actual progress in language ability, but rather the technological platforms that make such progress possible, and the learner’s experiences of agency, positive affect, and play as generated through interaction with such platforms.

3.3 Procedure of Data Collection

3.3.1 Surveys and Interviews

The online survey portion of the research was conducted during the month of August, followed by online and in-person interviews during the month of Septe[H1] mber. [For further details regarding promulgation of surveys and conducting interviews, please see section 3.1].

3.3.2 Ethnography

I began the ethnographic portion of my study with an entry test assessing my Thai language proficiency (as mentioned above). Following this, I engaged in a prolonged period of Internet-mediated Thai learning and Thai usage activities. I add emphasis to usage (rather than learning) activities here, as an important element of my study regards the experience of learning as it takes place through usage, particularly in instances when the learner does not regard himself as being or feeling as a learner, but rather as a user of language. I maintained a minimum activity period of three hours per day, with NO maximum – (although I never ended up spending more than four hours in a day engaging in online Thai language activity). I placed an emphasis on interacting with and through language primarily in Thai, and always sought to do what was most motivating at any particular moment. Details regarding the activities I pursued and clearly delineated in the following chapter, Results and Discussion.

Soares (2010) in her dissertation, notes several days where she spent up to nine hours online and in game-play (p. 1), without even noticing the passage of time. Although I was intrigued by the possibility of such activity, and the language learning progress it might engender, and thus set no upward limit for myself, I encountered a very different experience. I found that I personally have a rather limited upward tolerance for time spent online and in front of a computer screen, which I discuss further in the following chapter.

During this period I also acted as observer, utilizing the instruments described in section 2.9. During the months of August and September I processed data, as described in 2.9. At the end of September I underwent an exit proficiency test.

3.4 Data Analysis

Data from the surveys (questionnaire) is both quantitative and qualitative. Data was collected automatically through the system provided by esurveycreator (http://www.esurveycreator.com). Data was then analyzed in order to indicate frequency of responses, general themes and trends. Response frequency is presented in numeric and pictographic format, while themes and trends are discussed qualitatively, in prose format, in the following chapter, Results and Discussion.

Data from the interviews is qualitative, and was analyzed for themes, utilizing the coding system presented below, as well as for outliers. I examined both similarities and differences with regards to learners’ subjective experiences, both between individual learners of the same L2, and between the two groups of language learners with differing target L2s.

I conducted data analysis of the ethnography portion of the research by means of examining the results of all instruments (learning logs, chat dialogs and blog posts), and filtering them for various themes, as well as outliers. In order to provide a framework and cohesion to analysis, I utilized a number of frameworks, as identified in Chapter Two, already assembled by other authors. First of all, the five freedoms (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009), serve as means of analyzing experiences recorded in regard to play. To this I have added agency as a sixth freedom. Also part of this framework are Csíkszentmihályi’s concepts of play as ‘situated midway between boredom and worry’ (1971), and of play as being typified by flow experience (2007). Rod Ellis’s ‘Principles of Instructed Language Learning’ (2005) serve to analyse recorded experiences, particularly chat and blog activity, but also notes made in my learning log, from a language learning perspective. Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal (2011), provides a framework for examining the ways in which games (and by extension, a wider variety of Internet-mediated experiences) activate positive affect. Finally, I refer to J.P. Gee (2004, 2005) with regard to the mechanisms by which games (and by extension, a wider variety of Internet-mediated experiences) promote learning. Utilizing these frameworks, I created a coding system which I then used to annotate all instruments of the ethnographic portion of the research, as well as transcripts of interviews with English and Thai language learners. The coding system is provided in Appendix C.

In order to draw conclusions, data from the two survey pools (English language learners and Thai language learners) was compared for any similarities and differences. To the degree that Internet experience patterns and themes are similar across the two groups, it may be concluded that the Internet-mediated L2 experience is similar regardless of the target L2. Additionally, Internet experience patterns and themes identified in the survey and interview data from the Thai language learners’ pool was compared with the Internet experience patterns and themes that I identified in ethnographic research section.

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2012-12-22T18:48:00.002-08:00

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Overview Studies

The two primary overview studies are ‘Current Trends in Online Language Learning,’ by Robert J. Blake (2011), and ‘New technologies to support language learning,’ by Kervin & Derewianka (2011).

In the article ‘Current Trends in Online Language Learning’ (2011), Robert J. Blake serves to provide an overview of studies in online language learning (henceforth: OLL), making very few of his own value judgments or conclusions. The article covers four areas: online learning in general, CALL (computer assisted language learning), social computing (ie. social networking sites, blogs), and games for language learning. It begins by covering online learning in general, dividing OLL into 3 models: web-facilitated, hybrid, and totally virtual. Blake cites information stating that in the last decade online course growth has been about 19%, while overall enrollments have grown by only 1.5%. Furthermore, efficacy studies “showed that students who took all or part of their classes online performed better than those in traditional face-to-face learning environments.” (Blake, 2011, p. 21). Students in hybrid courses did best. According to studies cited, the greatest value lies in that OLL environments “stimulate students to spend more time engaged with the second language (L2) materials.” (ibid)

Blake goes on to discuss tutorial CALL, which he states generally consists of ‘drill-and-kill’ type grammar exercises. The next function of CALL Blake deals with is the use of computers to aid learners in improving both reading ability and lexis acquisition. He makes two important points here. The first is that “developing an adequate L2 lexicon will not happen without some form of explicit instruction or graded reading program”, and that the computer can be of help in this regard by “tracking students’ lexical problems and providing them with multiple exposures to new words through graded texts, glossing, or explicit instruction” (ibid, p. 22). This is very much in line with Vygostsky’s idea of dynamic assessment and its application to C-DA (computer-aided dynamic assessment), which “would likely follow an interventionist model with mediation offered from a menu of predetermined clues, hints and leading questions selected in a lock-step fashion ...C-DA tracks learners’ errors as well as the precise forms of mediation that prove beneficial” (Lantolf & Poehner, 2010, p. 282) The second point he makes is that, with regard to reading comprehension, “students with access to multimedia glosses (i.e. text plus picture) outperformed all other groups” (Blake, 2011, p. 23).

Even more attuned to the concept of C-DA is Intelligent CALL (iCALL), which is the next topic of Blake’s review. iCALL utilizes “a modicum of artificial intelligence”, and “seeks to individualize instruction by using a record of students’ previous exchanges to determine further instruction”. As a result, it “should be designed to anticipate students’ mistakes, offer helpful suggestions, and keep track of their behavior while using the program.” (ibid, p. 24) Because of the rather technical nature of Blake’s explanation, he fails to convey the excitement of the fact that iCALL is, at heart, interaction with an extremely smart computer that tracks one’s mistakes and the types of clues which help one to overcome them. Kervin & Derewianka, in their review of similar scope, note that iCALL programs “enable interaction with a ‘patient tutor’,” that they “are generally free or cheap, they engender confidence, they can ‘converse’ on a wide range of topics and engage in lengthy interactions, and they can take on ‘personalities’ and learn as they interact, ensuring novelty.” (Kervin & Derewianka, cited in Tomlinson, 2011, p. 335) While Kervin & Derewianka comment on a few such programs for English learning, such as Jabberwock and ‘chatterbot’, according to Blake, there are so far unfortunately no such programs for English. Accordingly, Blake provides brief reviews of three iCALL programs for other languages: E-Tutor for German, Tagarela for Portuguese, and Robo-Sensei for Japanese.

Blake continues by outlining developments in the use of Social Computing CALL in language teaching. This consists of both asynchronous and synchronous CMC (computer-mediated communication). Asynchronous CMC includes blogs, wikis, email, and forums, while synchronous CMC includes various forms of chat, as well as audio enhanced communication such as Skype. Blake notes the advantages of CMC - it “gives both the instructors and students the ability to direct the conversational flow ... [and] allows instructors and learners to engage in meaningful negotiations with all of the positive benefits associated with scaffolding” (Blake, 2011, p. 26). He goes on to explain how it has been used in task-based language learning, through jigsaw tasks, information gap and open ended activities. Other studies cited demonstrate CMC’s effectiveness in exercises requiring cultural negotiation between native and non-native speakers.

While Blake provides an overview of games, he seems to offer very little understanding of games, gaming and what actually makes games motivating. He describes the categories of single-player, 2 player and MMO (massively multiple online) games (such as World of Warcraft, Second Life or Halo). He outlines some important if obvious points, namely that “games foster agency,” that “games are always task-oriented or focused on play and often are accomplished by working in groups” and that “games let players be producers, not just consumers, by promoting agency, control and ownership.” (Blake, 2011, p. 28)

Blake provides a cursory review of a number of ‘games’ (the term is used loosely here), including Forgotten World (www.learninggamesnetwork.org), and Languagelab.com’s presence in Second Life (www.secondlife.com) as well as a few others. However, considering how recent his paper is, it is interesting to see that he makes no mention of the British Council or Avatar English’s more intriguing uses of the Second Life platform as detailed by Kervin and Derewianka in their publication of the same year. They describe the British Council’s offering as “an island within Teen Second Life which is a self-access centre geared towards the learning of English in an environment that appeals to tech-savvy young people....In this environment students can explore, meet others and participate in individual and group activities” Even more promising is Avatar English’s combination of “Second Life with Skype and other online teaching tools which allow learners and the teacher to work together on the same activity. Classes take place in custom-built virtual classrooms that reflect the theme of the classes, such as airports, markets, banks and cinemas.” (Kervin & Derewianka, cited in Tomlinson, 2011, p. 332[H1] )

While Blake’s paper appears to be exhaustive, clearly, it is not. Furthermore, in comparison to Kervin and Derewianka, who offer rich and insightful detail, Blake’s ‘Current Trends in Online Language Learning’ strikes one as somewhat of a dry compendium of soon-to-be-outdated information. Nonetheless, it is valuable as a well-written, concise and informative document detailing the dynamics of some of the current trends in online language learning, as its title implies. Kervin and Derewinka’s ‘New technologies to support language learning’ (2011), is written from the perspective of examining “the quality of learning that these resources facilitate and the extent to which their use reflects sound learning theory” (Kervin & Derewinka, 2011, p. 328). They examine the ways in which VoIP technology, as well as virtual worlds, such as Second Life, as mentioned above, have been put to use in the language classroom. They also discuss online resources for listening activities, ‘language immersion’ (see ‘Yabla’ and ‘Virtex,’ ibid, p. 340) sites which feature authentic video and television clips, videos, drama, interviews, etc. that have been topically organized for language learning. They further outline web-based resources for lexical acquisition, speaking and pronunciation, reading, writing, grammar, and corpora usage, but, again, primarily from the standpoint of classroom usefulness. They finish with a brief section on ‘integrated learning environments,’ such as the teacher-dependent Moodle, and the learner-centered site Livemocha. While this paper provides a strong overview of CALL media, it is interesting to note that, aside from mention of virtual worlds such as Second Life (which do not meet many of the key criteria defining games), Kervin and Derewianka make no mention of language learning games or of the implications of commercially available games for language learning.

2.2 Social media and CMC: Identities and Communities

Turning our focus more specifically towards CMC, we find that it is often examined in tandem with the social networking, blogging and chat room sites which support it. A common methodological feature of the literature regarding social media and CMC is a focus on the emergence of identity construction and community building which these media engender. This is one of the specific foci of Steven Thorne and Rebecca Black’s ‘Language and Literacy Development in Computer-Mediated Contexts and Communities,’ published March 2007 in the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. This article reviews the research in “three distinct computer-mediated configurations: (1) instructed and institutional intraclass discussion and interclass partnerships, (2) transcultural partnerships and structured participation in “open” Internet environments, and (3) interaction in ongoing Internet-mediated environments that include popular culture blogs and Web sites, fanfiction communities, language and/or culture communities, and online games.” (Thorne & Black, 2007, p. 133) While still a review as opposed to original research, Thorne & Black provide a great deal of qualitative detail, and are fairly unique in reflecting a great deal on the learner perspective. They provide several insights into “language development through textually mediated, generally peer-focused, communication,” discussing “a number of pedagogical benefits” which include more overall language production and more authentic discourse. (ibid, p. 134) Of particular interest is exploration of “non-student identities” emerging from CMC, even within institutional contexts. (ibid, p. 135) They go on to speak of the prevalent research paradigm of “general preoccupation with the learner, at the expense of other potentially relevant social identities.” (Firth & Wagner, 1997, p. 228, as cited in Thorne & Black, 2007, p. 136) This point highlights the trap of focusing on the learner, even that of focusing on the learner from the learner’s perspective, if the individual is still conceptualized as a learner. Furthermore it indicates a gap in the research, one documenting the overall experiences an individual person (as opposed to learner) encounters when navigating through mediated environments in an L2, regardless of whether their language acquisition is purposeful or incidental.

Other advantages of CMC over classroom discourse mentioned are “multidirectional interaction” (Thorne & Black, 2007, p. 135), “decreased anxieties” (ibid, p. 137), and students’ possibility to “occupy the structural role of an expert.” (ibid, p. 138) This last point is one discussed in relation to games, by Jane McGonigal in Reality is Broken. She uses the Yiddish word naches to describe “the bursting pride we feel when someone we’ve taught or mentored succeeds,” and states: “It’s no surprise that mentoring our friends and family in gameplay makes us happy and brings us closer together. Paul Ekman, a pioneering emotions researcher and an expert on the phenomenon of naches, explains that this particular emotion is also likely an evolved mechanism, designed to enhance group survival.” (Mc Gonigal, 2011, p. 87) This point brings up the twin elements of emotion and motivation, yielding another gap in the literature, one arguably best explored from an emic perspective, namely, which mediated L2 experiences result in positive motivation, i.e., do learners find motivating? This problem can ideally be examined not only from a subjective, experiential perspective, but additionally, through emotions research as it relates to evolutionary theory, as McGonigal has in this case done.

In discussion of community building, Thorne and Black first examine what they call ICL2E, or internet-mediated intercultural second language education, in which groups of learners from (usually two) different countries and cultures are paired in order to learn both language and culture collaboratively (Thorne & Black, 2007, p. 138). The key point they make is that of the likelihood of “discursive gaps” or cultural misunderstandings, thus necessitating multiple instructor roles including “consciousness raising” and modeling an “intercultural stance” (ibid, p. 140) in order to help learners negotiate meaning. This stands in contrast to their later review of Lam’s study of another learner, Almon, who, through participation in a more static web-based media, that of “a Web site devoted to the Japanese pop (J-pop) singer Ryoko” had a very different experience, one which “bolstered Almon’s confidence in communicating with a supportive, transnational group of peers who shared his interests in popular culture.” (ibid, p. 144) This brings to focus the importance of context and intent, which may be the deciding factors in the appearance or avoidance of cultural misunderstandings, rather than that of synchronous or asynchronous media, or of teacher-moderation or the lack thereof. Such a consideration begs the question, which particular mediated contexts, and which varieties of learner intent, are most motivating, and in what regards, and yield the least degree of conflict and the greatest degree of inter-user synchrony?

What does emerge though, in regard to learner motivation, is the instrumentality of relationship development. Thorne and Black note “when personal relationships matter, academic treatments of grammar and pragmatics attain renewed relevance in the lives of speakers.” (ibid, p. 142) The final point Thorne and Black note in regards to the commonalities they find in much of the research (Black, Lam and Yi) on non-game Internet-mediated transcultural interaction is that “online communities provide ELL youth with new forums for taking on powerful authorial and social roles, even as they learn and develop fluency with multiple forms, languages, and online registers.” (ibid, p. 146) What seems to be missing, however, from the studies they review, is a learner’s perspective on how this takes place.

Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen, in their games-focused paper ‘Moving Learning Games Forward – Obstacles, Opportunities & Openness’ (2009) also provide a strong overview of “social networking, blogging, and other forms of user-generated content that fall under the larger banner of participatory culture.” (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009, p. 1) They begin by stating that social media are “clearly not games” (ibid, p. 12). They differentiate the two in saying that “While networking with friends, colleagues and people of similar interests is in many cases fun, it lacks most of the criteria (rules, goals, fantasy, etc.) that would make it a game. Certainly social networking, like just about any activity, can be turned into a game.” While not games, “Social networks themselves may also be powerful learning tools. There is much research that supports the notion of collaborative learning as an effective means of teaching and learning” (ibid, p. 13). They comment on one of the (rather predictable) ways that gamers make use of social media “as a way to exchange information about the games, to strengthen or form teams, as well as to provide help for new and struggling players.” (ibid, p. 14) As McGonigal also notes, the majority of MMO games feature either text based or Skype type communication in order for players to coordinate their efforts.

Other authors, notably Ravi Purushotma, Steven L. Thorne, and Julian Wheatley, in their Web-based, link laden article, ‘Language Learning with New Media and Video Games’ (http://www.lingualgamers.com/thesis/), emphasize the interconnectedness of various media formats, and the fact that ‘Generation Y’ (also called ‘digital natives,’ meaning those who have grown up with the Internet from birth) typically make use of the various media formats available online in very fluid, connected and specialized ways.

2.3 Virtual environments

Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen (2009) comment that virtual worlds, of which Second Life is the prime example, “have been call “digital dollhouses”, places where one builds virtual objects or landscapes in which one can play with their digital representations, or “avatars.”” (ibid, p. 14) They feature “the aesthetic and controls of a game, without building in some of the critical aspects of what make games powerful learning tools – feedback, structure, goals, or paths to progress.” (ibid, p. 15) As such, while they may foster interactivity, they leave an independent learner without any framework through which to create a sense of achievement or to motivate action.

‘Action Learning with Second Life – A Pilot Study,’ (2009) by C. Wagner and R. Ip reports on qualitative research in the use of Second Life “as an action learning environment in a senior course for management information systems students.” (Wagner & Ip, 2009, p. 249) While this report is not related to L2 learning per se, it offers a number of observations regarding virtual worlds and the relevant learning possibilities they enable. Wagner and Ip describe ‘action learning’ as “learning through actions and experiences” (ibid, p. 250), which is relatable to task based learning (TBL) in the modern ESL classroom. It is further relatable in that “Action learning is based on the relationship between reflection and action. It usually involves a group of people working together for a concentrated period of time.” (ibid) Virtual worlds are well-defined as “immersive, three-dimensional (3-D), multimedia, multi-person simulation environments, where each participant adopts an alter ego and interacts with the world in real time.” (ibid, p. 251) Given that “virtual worlds are in many ways more suitable for the classroom environment [than games], in that the instructor does not have to overlay his or her own objective system over one implemented within a game” (ibid), they are perhaps less suitable for autonomous learning. The authors discuss the obvious link between simulation and training (e.g. flight simulation), which is essentially the basis for the study. They state “The value of virtual worlds for student learning can be viewed as triadic,” consisting of a platform for: 1.skills development and interaction with others, 2. the sharing of information and knowledge, and 3. business.” (ibid, p. 252) Thus, while virtual environments such as Second Life provide very little structure, they may be ideal platforms for learner activity within a class context, or for the context of a classroom within Second Life, as noted above.

2.4 Play

In defining the conditions of play, Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen (2009) outline the exercise of freedom “along five distinct axes: 1. freedom to fail; 2. freedom to experiment; 3. freedom to fashion identities; 4. freedom of effort; and 5. freedom of interpretation” (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009: 4) These are significant first of all because they are all freedoms, or the absence of any constraint. While a degree of such freedom is one of the tenets of modern CLT, even in CLT we cannot find the total absence of constraints. Furthermore, such a condition is the antithesis of traditional education, in which the student (not learner) is in control of virtually no aspect of his or her education. Furthermore, within these conditions of play, learning becomes a personalized, contextualized, identity-forming and highly interpretive experience.

In framing these five freedoms in relation to games, they state: “within the proscribed space of a game, players regularly exhibit all of the freedoms of unstructured play. Most players undertake games in the knowledge that failure is a possibility. They show a willingness to experiment in their game-play, and to try on different roles from leader to follower, novice to expert.” (from Gee, 2003 in Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009, p. 5) In relation to the questions I am posing, it was therefore essential that the study undertaken was done so in a manner that was not prescriptive, in order to maintain these various elements of freedom in the interest of play. Regarding the element of rules in games, Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen make the observation that “it is in the moment when “pushing against” [rules] is transformed into a meta-reflective “questioning about” that learning truly takes place.” (ibid, p. 6) This is clearly relatable to Vygotsky’s notion of a zone of proximal development (ZPD), in which learners always learn best when working at the outer boundary of their abilities (Lantolf & Poehner), and that learners may approach rules much as they approach their abilities – something to push against in the pursuit of meaning.

Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi, a seminal researcher in the fields of positive psychology and play, with Stith Bennet, provide some very different interpretations of the meaning of play in their paper ‘An Exploratory Model of Play’ (1971). Situating play at the midpoint between worry and boredom, they state that “when we can make each action by voluntary fiat, but still do not exhaust possible actions, the necessary conditions for play are established.” (Csíkszentmihályi & Bennet, 1971, p. 46) Further characteristics of play are “the actor’s lack of an analytic or “outside” viewpoint on his conduct: a lack of self-consciousness” (ibid), and “a measure of control over the environment, a balanced state between chaotic worry and stultifying boredom” (ibid, p. 49).

Csíkszentmihályi is also the original author of the concept of flow experience as a key indicator of play. He describes it as an experience when “Attention is focused on a limited stimulus field. There is full concentration, complete involvement.” It is a state in which “Action and awareness merge.” (Csíkszentmihályi , 2007, p. 6) Furthermore, “There is freedom from worry about failure.” (ibid, p. 8) Other features of flow experience are the disappearance of self-consciousness and distortion of time. (ibid, p. 12) Such an experience is described as being auto-telic, meaning that “The experience becomes its own reward.” (ibid, p. 14) He explains the conditions which foster flow as being “clear goals every step of the way”, “immediate feedback to action”, and “a balance between challenges and skills.” As will be related below, games, in meeting these conditions exactly, are perfect environments for activating flow experience. From the perspective of L2 acquisition, can such flow conditions also be met in an Internet-mediated environment with regard to L2 use, and if so, how?

2.5 Play and Identity

Csíkszentmihályi and Bennet state “As long as a person is playing, his selfless attention to only “his” actions transcends his referential (i.e. social) identity, and the ability for further negotiating breaks down.” Csíkszentmihályi & Bennet, 1971, p. 56) If this is so, it has interesting implications for identity in the context of mediated L2 activity. Julie Beltz has written that identity “resonates with history, culture, biography, and institution and is often conceptualized in terms of typifications (e.g. the European, the Californian, the Midwesterner).” (Beltz, 2002, p. 18) First of all, in interactive Internet-mediated activity the individual, relying on (often ‘speech-like’) text communication (CMC), and devoid of any actual physical representation (an avatar or other such character does not have to reveal one’s actual physical characteristics), is able to shed any physical differences (such as race, gender or age) with his or her L2 interlocutors in his or her expression of identity. For the L2 native interlocutors, such a dualism should also break down, as “the traditional theoretical conflict between individual and society (or monism and dualism) is irrelevant for a man at play.” (Csíkszentmihályi & Bennet , 1971, p. 56). Furthermore, within the context of a (role-playing) game, the native L2 interlocutors no longer maintain the same degree of cultural authority in relation to the L2 itself, as the players are enmeshed in the culture of the game, to which the L2 now serves primarily as a means for coordinating activity inherent to the game rather than the L2 culture. For these reasons, it would appear that mediated L2 learning may help to leverage the non-native learner’s agency in ways that do not take place in physical reality.

2.6 A Framework for the Examination of L2 Learning

In his ‘Principles of Instructed Language Learning’ (2005) Rod Ellis presents ten principles, which, while devised for instructed learning, seem to be almost entirely devised from non-instructed learning, or natural acquisition. Leaving out “Instruction needs to ...”, his first three principles read: “1. ensure that learners develop both a rich repertoire of formulaic expressions and a rule-based competence”, “2. ensure that learners focus predominantly on meaning”, and “3. ensure that learners also focus on form.” (Ellis, 2005, pp. 2-3) It would appear evident that any learner, instructed or not, if (physically or virtually) immersed in and motivated to learn an L2, would follow all three of these principles. Principle four mandates “developing implicit knowledge of the L2 while not neglecting explicit knowledge.” (ibid, p. 4) In natural, uninstructed L2 acquisition it would appear that implicit knowledge would naturally occur, while explicit knowledge would require either instruction or metacognitive analysis on the part of the learner. Principles five, six, seven and eight also reflect the type of non-instructed learning inherent in acquisition: “5. take into account the learner’s ‘built-in syllabus’”, “6. learning requires extensive L2 input”, “7. learning also requires opportunities for output”, and “8. The opportunity to interact in the L2 is central to developing L2 proficiency.” (ibid, pp. 5-7) Principle nine, “take account of individual differences in learners” (ibid, p. 7), like principle five, would become a non-issue in non-instructed learning. So too would principle ten: “examine free as well as controlled production” (ibid, p. 8).

While Ellis states his purpose in formulating these principles as meeting a need for “a set of generalisations that might serve as the basis for language teacher education” (ibid, p. 1), these ten principle may additionally, within the context of this review, serve as a framework by which to analyze learning experiences occurring in any mediated environment. For example, in this experience (e.g. blogging), am I: focusing predominantly on form or meaning? using formulaic expressions? exercising an opportunity for input, output or interaction? Indeed, any and all mediated L2 experiences could be analyzed through such a framework, possibly thus providing a more coherent and well-directed learning experience.

2.7 Games

‘Moving Learning Games Forward – Obstacles, Opportunities & Openness,’ (2009) by Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen also provides a succinct framework through which to examine the common features and varieties of both games in general and learning games in particular. In praise of the applicability of the characteristics of gamers to educational pursuit they state “game player’s [sic] regularly exhibit persistence, risk-taking, attention to detail and problem-solving skills, all behaviors that ideally would be regularly demonstrated in school.” (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009, p. 1) They begin by outlining two traditional approaches towards the creation of learning games, the first focusing on games, perhaps at the expense of education, the second focusing on education at the expense of the gaming experience. (ibid, pp. 1-2) “Gaming is play across media, time, social spaces, and networks of meaning; it includes engagement with digital FAQs (or Frequently Asked Questions), paper game guides, parents and siblings, the history of games, other players, as well as the games themselves. It requires players to be fluent in a series of connected literacies that are multi-modal, performative, productive, and participatory in nature. It requires an attitude oriented toward risk-taking, meaning creation, non-linear navigation, problem-solving, an understanding of rule structures, and an acknowledgement of agency within that structure, to name but a few.” (ibid, p. 5) While this is an extremely broad definition, it places play at the center of the gaming experience, defining gaming not so much in relation to actual games, but rather in relation to an attitude of play across any mediated or non-mediated experiences.

Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen further define “a number of types of gamers based on their playing habits. These include: · Power gamers who are the prototypical gamers mentioned above · Social gamers who enjoy gaming as a way to interact with friends. · Leisure gamers mainly play casual titles. Nevertheless they prefer challenging titles and show high interest in new gaming services. · Dormant gamers love gaming but spend little time because of family, work, or school. They like to play with friends and family and prefer complex and challenging games. · Incidental gamers lack motivation and play games mainly out of boredom. · Occasional gamers play puzzle, word, and board games almost exclusively.” (ibid, p. 7)

By extension, there are a variety of game genres. These include: power games – including MMO role-playing games (MMORPGs) such as WoW, EverQuest and Halo; casual games – such as the card games ubiquitous to most computers and many cell phones; puzzle adventure games – such as Grim Fandango and Sam and Max, in which “players take the role of the protagonist in a story in which they interact with a variety of characters to solve mysteries and puzzles” (Purushtoma, Thorne & Wheatley, 2009, p. 26); simulation games – such as The Sims, in which “players are placed in charge of managing a complex system” (ibid); and social games – such as Facebook’s Farmville or online version of scrabble, Lexulous, both of which leverage the power of social networks and the aspect of interaction with friends and family. (McGonigal, 2011, p. 81) Such an understanding of gaming habits and genres can serve to frame and direct game experiences. For example, having an understanding of game genres and play modes might direct an individual playing games in an L2 to begin with simulation and social games, which require only basic lexis, and then move on to power games and puzzle games, thus scaffolding their learning and setting appropriate gaming and learning goals.

‘The Sopranos Meets EverQuest – Social Networking in Massively Multiplayer Online Games’ (2003), by Mikael Jakobsson and T.L. Taylor, examines socialization patterns within one particular MMO role-playing game (MMORPG) titled EverQuest (EQ). Like most games in this genre, EQ relies on both formal and informal grouping in order for players to accomplish tasks. This is the primary mechanism by which MMORPGs become interactive and communicative, thereby potentially rich environments for L2 learning. Jakobsson and Taylor state: “By creating a group out of characters specializing in different but complementary skills, members can collectively take on and defeat opponents who are equal or even mightier than the individual characters in the group. It is only through working with other players that individual gamers achieve maximum results.” (Jakobsson & Taylor, 2003, p. 83) This happens both informally, and formally, through what are called guilds. The gist of their argument is that socialization within EQ appears to occur through many of the same patterns evident in Mafia culture, as based on a representation of such culture in the popular television program The Sopranos. They discuss not only “the implicit construction of social hierarchy” (ibid, p. 86), but also the implications of ‘real (offline) friend’ status within the game, the phenomenon of gamer groups migrating together from one MMO to another, the degree of time commitment which some guilds require of members, and the degree to which “physical or cultural proximity and previous shared gaming experiences” serve to connect players (ibid, p. 84). Jakobsson and Taylor conclude by giving credit to gamers themselves for managing and creating the large part played by social experience within the game: “While they are not the designers of EQ they can be seen as the creators of their gaming experience,” one in which all players act as “co-constructors of the game world that they, and future players, are part of.” (ibid, p. 89) Their work, while not related to L2 acquisition, serves to vividly illustrate the social structures of the MMORPG experience in a new context, one in which “friendships between the players could be considered to be the ultimate exploit of the game.” (ibid, p. 81) In doing so, they provide a greater appreciation for the high degree of socialization such games engender, as well as establishing the degree to which such games create experiential micro-universes, formed through and informed by player interaction.

In ‘Structuring Narrative in 3D Digital Game-Based Learning Environments to Support Second Language Acquisition’ (2010), David Neville examines L2 acquisition within MMORPGs (which he calls ‘3D Digital Game-Based Learning Environments,’ or 3D-DGBL) from the perspective of examining how narrative “serves as a vehicle for situating the self within a new community of practice.” (Neville, 2010, p. 452) Neville also comments on how MMORPG environments differ from virtual environments in that only the former support the emergence of distinct cultures and meaning, even narrative itself, which arise specifically from participant interaction. (ibid, p. 447) His stated purpose is twofold: firstly, to discuss the common characteristics of narrative as described from a number of theoretical perspectives (situated cognition, SLA and game studies) as “a means of developing meaningful, engaging, and instructional gameplay in 3D-DGBL environments”; secondly, to provide design suggestions for performance-based learning in such environments. (ibid)

Neville states at the outset that he uses “the term narrative broadly in the essay to describe the dialogue that emerges between a learner and a more capable peer, the sociocultural settings that contextualize language production and nuance its various manifestations, and the stories created by player interaction with a game.” (ibid) Of interest here are many possibilities hinted at, ones we have seen in other authors’ work. First is the phenomenon of mentoring; second, ‘sociocultural settings’ which may be, rather than language specific, specific to the culture of the game; and lastly, the fact that the story itself, or narrative, exists not so much in the game as in the interactions and individual character decisions which take place in its setting. With regard to this last point and its implications for L2 acquisition, the author remarks that “language acquisition is not only an intra-mental process, or one that occurs solely in the head of the language learner, but is also inter-mental in the sense that it is situated within communities that share and shape a common linguistic system.” (ibid, p. 452) In this regard, narrative is a shared process through which L2 acquisition takes place. Narrative, furthermore “serves as a vehicle for situating the self with a new community of practice, although it can also function in reverse as a means of making this community meaningful on a personal level.” (ibid) Neville mentions other game genres (such as ‘twitch,’ or first person shooter games), which do not afford such narrative experiences, and focuses on MMORPGs as platforms “designed to support narrative gestalt,” and which require negotiation of various emotional and thematic interactions, thereby serving as a basis for both transitory player identity formation and permanent learning. (ibid, pp. 455-7)

In seeking to develop a “Design Rubric for Developing Performance Objectives in 3D-DGBL Environments” (ibid, pp. 464-5) the author discusses some of the features common to MMORPGs, such as ‘cutscenes,’ which include “noninteractive scripted sequences” in order to advance the story and move players up to a higher level, and serving as a “loop through which the various traces of player interactivity are threaded, lending an overall structure to the game experience.” (ibid, p. 459) He also provides illustrations of how MMORPGs offer players multiple pathways towards the solution of problems, based on players own personal personalities and styles. (ibid, pp. 460-1) In discussing learning outcomes, he presents an interesting problem: “the conundrum persists: How does one design efficient and effective instruction in 3D-DGBL environments when everything is a potential learning situation, when it is impossible to predict which path the learner will take, and when every path is a valid course of study?” (ibid, p. 462) While the purposes of this study do not include the design of effective instruction in Internet-mediated environments such as MMORPGs (or 3D-DGBL environments), Neville’s rubric as presented on pages 464-5 includes a set of questions regarding resource objectives, behaviors, conditions, criteria, language, society, culture and connections, almost all of which can serve well to shape and refine any study of L2 acquisition experience within an MMORPG environment. The primary weakness of Neville’s study is that, while quite thorough from the perspective of narrative, it actually offers very little analysis of the mechanisms for L2 acquisition aside from the rather stand-alone rubric.

2.8 Games, Play and Positive Emotions

Jane McGonigal, in her insightful and original opus on games, Reality is Broken (2011) provides a far better and more complete understanding of games, gamers and gaming, than any other publication to date. In it, she outlines fourteen ways in which games are more motivating than (traditional) reality, primarily focusing on the capacity games have to activate peak positive emotions.

The first section of her book, “Why Games Make Us Happy” is very much rooted in the work of Csíkszentmihályi and other pioneers of positive psychology, as well as more recent studies in neurochemistry, and outlines traits and features of games in general and video games in particular. She discusses the ways in which games ‘provoke positive emotion’ through: the voluntary undertaking of satisfying work (McGonigal, 2011, p. 28); what she calls ‘fiero,’ meaning the emotional rush players experience when triumphing over adversity in games (ibid, p. 33); the way video games make “it possible to experience flow almost immediately” resulting in “a much faster cycle of learning and reward” (ibid, p. 41); and the ways in which they can foster social connection and meaning (ibid, p. 49). McGonigal refers to game designers as ‘happiness engineers,’ and in discussing the “rush of “interest” biochemicals also known as “internal opiates,”” states that while “few of us set out intentionally to trigger these systems,” (ibid, p. 48) good games, basically, are platforms designed specifically for this purpose:

This extreme emotional activation is the primary reason why today’s most successful computer games are so addictive and mood-boosting. When we’re in a concentrated state of optimistic engagement, it suddenly becomes biologically more possible for us to think positive thoughts, to make social connections, and to build personal strengths. We are actively conditioning our minds and bodies to be happier. (ibid, p. 28)

She provides greater detail concerning all of these points. With regard to satisfying work, she states “Satisfying work always starts with two things: a clear goal and actionable next steps toward achieving that goal.” (ibid, p. 55, original author’s bold and italics) In discussing “fun failure” she states “the right kind of failure feedback is a reward. It makes us more engaged and more optimistic about our odds of success. Positive failure feedback reinforces our sense of control over the game’s outcome. And a feeling of control in a goal-oriented environment can create a powerful drive to succeed.” (ibid, p. 67) Effective failure feedback as McGonigal describes it is often amusing, creating a lighthearted feeling. Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen also discuss this aspect of game design, referring to it as a silly aesthetic: “This somewhat silly aesthetic invites play, and it has appealed to a large number of fans. Players can enjoy themselves casually without feeling pressure to perform perfectly in the game.” (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009, p.10)

In her discussion of the social aspects of games, McGonigal describes the two phenomena of “happy embarrassment” and “vicarious pride.” She illustrates the first of these concepts by discussing the ways players (and NPCs) may sometimes “trash talk” or tease each other, and discusses the psychological mechanism behind it as “a social vaccine”: “We mostly tease and let ourselves be teased because it feels good. But the reason why it feels good is that it builds trust and makes us more likable. Most of us might not realize exactly why it enhances our social connection, but we definitely feel the emotional net positive after a teasing.” (ibid, p. 85) “Vicarious pride” is the emotion we feel when we have successfully mentored someone of lower ability level. While often not a designed feature of games, it has been frequently noted as a primary cultural aspect of many MMO gaming communities. It is also very much related to identity and the concept of role-play, or taking on the roles of expert and novice. Thus, both these phenomena can be recognized as elements of play. An additional social phenomenon she discusses is the degree of emotional investment, in the form of care and concern, people can develop for avatars or characters whose development they must nurture.

McGonigal further illustrates how MMO environments foster what she calls “ambient sociability” (ibid, p. 89) and provide meaning by allowing us “to connect our daily actions to something bigger than ourselves” (ibid, p. 97, original author’s italics) She describes two requirements for such “epic context” as, first, a shared game story which works as a “collective context for action,” and second, the player’s experience of personal action as a kind of service in which “every effort by one player must ultimately benefit all the other players.” (ibid, p. 101) By framing game experiences in such a manner it begins to become evident that video games are in so many senses not virtual experiences, as they have traditionally been viewed, but rather unique mediated worlds, very different in some ways, and in other ways not so different from classrooms or work environments, in which people work together for a collective good.

With regard to means of measuring progress, McGonigal discusses how “leveling up,” the standard game mechanism for entering more advanced levels of play, is, however, so fundamentally different from, and more motivating than the standard educational mechanism of tests and grades. And the continuous feedback gamers receive regarding their ability is far more immediate, instructive and motivating than any form of feedback found in traditional education. “Real-time data and quantitative benchmarks are the reason why gamers get consistently better at virtually any game they play: their performance is consistently measured and reflected back to them, with advancing progress bars, points, levels, and achievements.” (ibid, p. 157) In an MMO environment, synchronous CMC may provide similar “real time data” to the L2 player, as the effectiveness of their communication in the pursuit of a common game-related goal serves as a direct measure of their communicative competence.

Much of the remainder of Reality is Broken discusses means of using games (not only computer games) as various “reality fixes.” McGonigal’s work is very well-supported, and her theories are illustrated with multiple examples from existing gaming realities. McGonigal is very hopeful about the power of games to change reality, and her enthusiasm for the subject is infectious. Her work, in relation to this review, can help to provide an additional framework by which to examine not only aspects of play within a mediated L2 experience, but also to evaluate the emotional texture of various mediated experiences, and to point towards their underlying reasons. The implications of such peak positive emotions for learning remain yet unexamined by McGonigal. While numerous authors have discussed the desirability of positive affect within learning experiences, very few have produced any conclusive results. While McGonigal also has not done so, her work is instrumental in examining the mechanisms by which games create emotionally positive experiences.

2.9 Games and (L2) Learning

Thorn and Black (2007), in their review as introduced above, also address games. They begin with a brief discussion of Purushotma’s (2005) review of The Sims 2 as an L2 learning tool, which “found that the vocabulary and tasks the game comprises were highly aligned with the content of conventional foreign language course content,” and that “exposure to the target language is always linked to carrying out tasks and social actions, which concomitantly embeds vocabulary and grammatical constructions in rich associative contexts.” (Thorne & Black, 2007, p. 146) They also discuss MMORPGs, noting research that documents the development of “strong “projective” identities” (Gee), and the prevalence of game cultures which promote assistance through scaffolding to novice players. (ibid, p. 147) Like Purushotma, Thorne, and Wheatley, they mention the “overlapping use of multiple information and communication tools,” which they align with the concept of polyfocality. (ibid) Thorne & Black conclude by stating that further research is required in order to “help to highlight the evolving contours of possibility for language development in the transcultural spaces of noninstitutional online environments and associated cultures-of-use.” (ibid) It is interesting to note here their choice of the word development, which connotes the kind of non-intentionality we find in the term acquisition, as opposed to the intentional activities of teaching or learning. Such a study might take the form of a ‘play’-centered exploration, documenting emic perspectives on enjoyment, adventure, meaning and identity formation and the actual process of language acquisition through interactive and productive media usage across multiple Internet modalities.

In ‘Personalised Learning for Casual Games: The ‘Language Trap’ Online Language Learning Game’ (2010), authors Neil Peirce and Vincent Wade provide a case study detailing the mechanism of an online game for the learning of German, along with “results of an authentic evaluation of the Language Trap game” (Pierce & Wade, 2010, p. 306), and an explanation and demonstration of the efficacy of the ALIGN (Adaptive Learning In Games through Non-invasion) system. Beginning from an historical perspective, they, as do many other authors (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009; Purushotma, Thorne & Wheatley, 2012) bemoan early attempts at ‘edutainment’ games and their failure due to lack of integration of learning and gaming content, thus disrupting (or ‘invading’) the flow experience described by Csíkszentmihály, and move forward to state that successful learning games “must seamlessly integrate learning content to present a game that blurs the boundary between where the game stops and the learning content begins.” (Pierce & Wade, 2010, p. 307) They also mention that while “games can present many of the constituents of a flow experience such as clear goals, immediate feedback, task feasibility, and self-governance, the most important factor, that of balanced skills and challenges, is determined not only by the difficulty of the game but also by the player’s abilities.” (ibid, p. 308)

Overall, the significance of their study in relation to this literature review is in the emphasis of the importance of non-invasion of play experience in the learning and gaming process. The ALIGN system is described as a type of iCALL system providing dynamic assessment by continuously modeling the learner, providing motivation, guidance, and meta-cognitive feedback through a companion NPC (non-player character). (ibid, pp. 310-12) Overall, reported student response and learning progression was “very positive” and, in line with Csíkszentmihály’s theory of flow in that “they didn’t recognise how time went by whilst playing” (ibid, p. 314)

In ‘Learning Conversations in World of Warcraft’ (2007), authors Bonnie A. Nardi, Stella Ly, and Justin Harris state that within the framework of the Vygotskian notion of zone of proximal development (ZPD), their goal is “to describe learning activity that is devoid of curriculum.” (Nardi, Ly & Harris, 2007, p. 1) Their paper describes ongoing ethnographic fieldwork comprised primarily of first-person game-playing, and examines “three kinds of learning: fact finding, devising tactics/strategy, and acquiring game ethos” (ibid) as occurs through in-game CMC (chat). Within the context of WoW, they describe chat as “a community resource for learning as well as enabling learning by those actually chatting.” (ibid, p. 2) Like natural L1 language acquisition, “In World of Warcraft, learning in conversation is event-driven with no planned curriculum. It is spontaneous, erratic, serendipitous, and contextual.” (ibid, p. 3) However, as with properly scaffolded learning “the situated curriculum comprises a sequence of tasks for students to complete with appropriate instruction.” (ibid) In commenting on a chat exchange in WoW, they state: “The information Drollnar [an in-game character name] received was tailored to his level of knowledge, it occurred in a social context, offered an action for him to take to further his own ends, and took meaning from the participation of other players.” (ibid, p. 4) While these descriptions occur with reference to fact-finding, they make similar observations with regard to the additional two types of learning mentioned. These descriptions are significant in that this type of scaffolded, highly contextualized, meaning-driven, action-oriented, and social interaction matches perfectly with the ideal learning situations described in the literature on L2 acquisition. One additional element the authors touch upon is the emotive quality of CMC exchanges. Here they suggest a need for further research into the impact of emotion on learning, stating “We believe it is likely that such emotion provides salience to the learned facts, heightens attention, and adds interest.” (ibid) Again, such an observation matches much of the literature on ideal conditions for L2 acquisition (Dörnyei, 2001), emphasizing the need for affective as well as cognitive engagement, in addition to the need for a relaxed, supportive learning environment. Such an understanding of emotions, from the perspective of this study, will ideally be related to formalized understanding of play as well as the triggers and features of peak emotional experience as described by McGonigal. Online gaming, or at least WoW, appears to provide many of the ideal conditions for learning as mentioned in the body of literature on L2 acquisition. While this is a valuable study offering many interesting observations for consideration, as its stated aim is to offer a sort of Vygotskian analysis, it would benefit from more focused, in-depth discussion of the reported situated learning from the Vygotskian perspective.

In ‘Learning by Design: Games as learning machines (2004), and ‘Good Video Games and Good Learning’ (2005), James Paul Gee outlines a number of “good learning principles, principles supported by current research in Cognitive Science” (Gee, 2005, p. 34) inherent in good video games. While there are a number of differences between the two articles, there is also a great deal of overlap. The 2004 article introduces thirteen principles, while the 2005 article outlines sixteen. Principles which overlap both include: identity (games provide gamers an identity in which they invest), production (or ‘codesign,’ by which players are not merely consumers but also producers or creators of the game), customization (gamers decide how they play, which meets not only differing playing but also learning styles), well-ordered problems (earlier problems scaffold knowledge required for later problems), challenge and consolidation (or ‘cycles of expertise,’ in which new information once learned is called for repeatedly in order to consolidate it), information just-in-time and on demand (new knowledge, especially text-heavy knowledge, appears only when it is needed or when the gamer asks for it), situated meanings (or ‘meaning as action image,’ i.e. meaning that is contextualized in the game), pleasantly frustrating (meaning that gamers are constantly challenged by tasks at the boundary of their ZPD), manipulation (or ‘smart tools and distributed knowledge,’ by which gamers can manipulate their environment, and by which individual gamers have differing knowledge) and system thinking (knowledge fits into an overarching system). The 2004 article also outlines what Gee calls “fishtanks”(p. 20) and “sandboxes” (p. 21), both referring to tutorial level activities or environments which allow novice gamers opportunities “to understand the game as a whole system” through a “stripped down version” ( 2004: 21) (the former), or a metaphorical “safe haven” (ibid) where learners can act without dire repercussions (the latter). The 2005 article adds a number of principles: interaction (by which players interact with the game, other players, and NPC), risk-taking (achieved through both” lowering the consequences of failure”(2005, p. 35) and allowing players to use previous failures as ways of gaining feedback and determining patterns (ibid)), agency (a “real sense of ownership over what they are doing” (ibid, p. 36)), and exploration (a non-linear attitude to knowledge acquisition which encourages “players to explore thoroughly before moving on too fast, to think laterally and not just linearly” (ibid)). The value of these articles to this study is their ability not only to justify the learning potentials engendered by video games, but also to provide a framework through which to analyze all Internet-mediated L2 experiences.

‘Warcraft Teaches Spanish’ is an informal blog by Dan Roy (2007), in which he discusses reasons for choosing WoW in particular as a platform for Spanish learning, and comments on his learning experiences within the game. He mentions reasons for his choice as being “it’s immersive and social and it elicits lots of playing time.” (Roy, 2007) Also, “it has a highly customizable interface.” He mentions his methods of exposure to Spanish in the game as arising through text-heavy ‘cutscenes,’ chatting, and frequent exposure to keywords. These include: words related “to my character’s primary actions ...my character’s traits ...all the parts of my character’s body ...names of all the creatures I encounter ... the different professions players can adopt in the game ...[and] the names of the fantasy races” He states that he learns these words easily, and “without any extra effort.” However, he does mention that reading cutscene text often “slows down play,” and when in a group this can cause other players to become impatient with him. When reading such text he often makes use of the online translation tool Ultralingua, and suggests that “this functionality could be built into the game’s interface as a tool-tip pop—up, eliminating the need to type the unknown word.” (Ultralingua features a scroll-over function). He states that “Chatting with other players in Spanish is perhaps the most compelling way to become more comfortable with the language.” He also mentions the possibility and hope of setting up “a guild which incorporates voice chat as well.” He says, however, that overall his “initial impressions of WoW as a language learning tool are mixed.” This is because of long playing periods which do not require language, and the inclusion of “very little spoken word.” For someone such as myself, who has yet to experience MMORPGs first hand, this short blog cuts right to the chase in providing very direct information regarding the practicalities of L2 use in such environments.

Dionne Soares PhD. (Linguistics) dissertation, ‘Second Language Pragmatic Socialization in World of Warcraft’ (2010) is a tangentially relevant ethnographic study. [H2] The stated purpose of the author: “The overall goal of this dissertation is to explore the social environment of World of Warcraft as a venue for second language socialization, the process through which “persons become competent members of social groups” (Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986, p. 167) by using language in ways deemed appropriate by the community. Specifically, this study examines how the learners became socialized to the pragmatic norms of a virtual community of Spanish speaking gamers in World of Warcraft.” (Soares, 2010, p. 2)

2.10 Conclusion

In summary, a number of major contributions to a better understanding of L2 learning within Internet-mediated environments have been presented here. Robert Blake, and also Lisa Kervin with Beverly Derewianka provide broad overview studies revealing the breadth of Internet-mediated experiences within which L2 learning can take place, particularly from the teacher’s perspective. Steven Thorne and Rebecca Black discuss the emergence of distinct communities and identities, as well as the importance of relationship development, through CMC enabled activities. Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen also discuss CMC technology in relation to L2 learning. In their broad study they additionally provide insight into social networks and virtual worlds, as well as offering very informative discussion on play, freedoms and games. Wagner and Ip discuss the use of the virtual world Second Life as a platform for ‘action learning.’ Csíkszentmihályi and Bennet add greatly to the discussion on play, touching on the relation between play and identity, as well as defining and outlining the experience of flow. Rod Ellis provides a set of language learning principles which can serve as a means by which to interpret L2 learning within mediated environments. Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen discuss different types of gamers, while Purushtoma, Thorne and Wheatley, along with Jane McGonigal, elaborate on different game genres. Jakobsson and Taylor examine the importance of socialization patterns in one MMORPG, EverQuest, and the means by which CMC enables this. David Neville examines L2 acquisition within MMORPGs through the vehicle of narrative. McGonigal discusses the mechanisms by which games create positive emotions. Peirce and Wade discuss the mechanisms for L2 learning in a specific game devised for the purpose, The ‘Language Trap,’ and highlight the importance of integrating learning in a non-intrusive manner in order to maintain flow. Nardi, Ly and Harris discuss the contextualized learning which takes place through CMC conversations in WoW as “learning activity that is devoid of curriculum.” (2007, p.1) James Gee provides a compendium of mechanisms by which games engender learning. And finally, Dan Roy discusses his personal experiences using WoW as a platform for learning Spanish. Purushtoma, Thorne and Wheatley offer two additional articles which deserve review in this paper at a later point, as does Dianne Soares’ PhD. dissertation.

This literature review is significant to the field of TESOL as a whole primarily for the greater understanding of how Internet-mediated experiences can lead to L2 acquisition, both with and without the supervision of a teacher. It also sheds light on the related processes of emerging identity formation and community building engendered by such experiences. Finally, it points towards likely future directions for the field of TESOL as a whole, which, as part of a global system, is being transformed by the Internet much as every other realm of life is being transformed.

More specifically, in relation to this study, this review has identified a number of frameworks that are instrumental in framing both the collection and analysis of data. These include: Ellis’s ten principle of instructed learning, by which to analyze learning experiences occurring in any mediated environment; an understanding of game genres and play modes; Csíkszentmihályi and Bennet’s theories of play; McGonigal’s work, which provides a framework by which to examine not only aspects of play within a mediated L2 experience, but also to evaluate the emotional texture of various mediated experiences, and point towards their underlying reasons; and Gee’s work, which serves as a framework for examining learning mechanisms within game play.

Nonetheless, while all of these studies circle around and answer aspects of my original question, none of them get to the heart of the matter: From the emic perspective, in the process of non-instructed, Internet-mediated L2 activity, what activities best encapsulate the elements of both play and positive affect while leading to L2 acquisition? Some authors come closer to others in arriving at an emic perspective, but by and large the point of view taken is an etic one, one which looks at various mediated experiences with the learner in mind, but not from the perspective of an individual (not specifically a learner), immersed in various Internet-mediated L2 experiences. This is the primary weakness I have encountered in the literature in consideration of the question I am posing. Soares’ dissertation (2010) may come closest to the perspective I wish to discover. However, her focus is on socialization and pragmatics, while mine is concerned with the intersection of play, positive emotion and L2 acquisition.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

2012-12-22T02:04:00.002-08:00

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background and Rationale

An examination of the intersection between technology and language learning is an overwhelming endeavor. In narrowing the scope of this general topic it is perhaps better to examine the intersection of emergent technologies and language learning, whereby we can elaborate on the specific pertinent technologies. This can effectively undergo a binary division, between CALL (computer assisted language learning) and MALL (mobile [device] assisted language learning). Yet this is only one of other possible divisions, as CALL offers elements such as CMC (computer mediated communication), virtual worlds, and gaming. Within the literature, while MALL is typically considered a learner-centered (class and ‘teacherless’) modality, CALL, in the majority of the literature, is examined as an element within an educationally defined setting. With regards to technology, this review will focus on CALL rather than MALL.

Without exception, authors of studies related to CALL have positive, optimistic things to say about the current state and the future of technology-enhanced or mediated language learning. Studies fall into both qualitative and quantitative categories, and some of the documents referenced in this literature review are themselves literature reviews. As this is a constantly emerging field, many studies effectively try to broadly define ‘state-of-the-art’ at the time of publication, to the detriment of delving deeper into any singular, particular aspect. Others however involve esoteric examinations of single aspects of one specific modality.

What most of the literature shares in common however is that it is relegated to an etic approach, a teacher’s rather than a learner’s view, towards the usefulness of various media in language learning. While this research will examine a broad scope of related technologies, the focus will be on CALL, and more specifically, Internet-mediated experiences, but[H1] from the perspective of MALL in the sense that it is in search of the emic, autonomous (‘teacherless’) learner-centered learning experiences engendered.

1.2 Objectives of the Study (Research Questions)

This research was carried out in search of emic, autonomous (‘teacherless’) learner-centered learning experiences engendered through Internet-mediated experiences. The goal, or framework of this research, was to address these three questions: Firstly, from the emic perspective, in the process of non-instructed, Internet-mediated L2 activity, what activities enable agency [H2] and best encapsulate the elements of both play and positive affect while leading to L2 acquisition? ‘Internet-mediated L2 activities’ includes a broad spectrum of modalities available for L2 activity on the Internet, ranging from chat to blogging, games, and others, as will be discussed further in the literature review portion of this document. The focus here is both on gaining insights into the mechanisms of the technology and the user experience of such technologies. [H3] Secondly, does this emic perspective differ depending on the specific L2 being acquired through non-instructed, Internet-mediated L2 activity, and do similarities also occur? The two L2 being examined here are Thai and English. The link between these two questions lies in the conjecture that the L2 acquisition process, regardless of the target L2, basically proceeds in a similar fashion. The intersection of these two research questions should serve to shed light on whether this conjecture also holds true for L2 acquisition in an Internet-mediated environment. If some differences do exist, these can then be seen as areas in which any conclusions regarding Thai L2 acquisition may not be transferrable to English L2 acquisition, and vice versa. It may also be interesting to consider whether such possible differences result from differences in the target L2, or differences in the cultural and technical knowledge backgrounds of the participants. If similarities exist in some areas, these may be areas in which any observations or conclusions are transferable and applicable to any L2[H4] .[H5]

1.3 Scope of the Study

There were two aspects to the research, each serving slightly differing objectives. The first involved surveys and interviews of both English and Thai language learners in order to gain insight into the means by which they experience L2 language use and learning through Internet-mediated experiences, as well as the emotional character of those experiences. The second involved the examination from an emic perspective the researcher’s second language (Thai) learning experience through Internet mediation (using both mobile device and computer). The time frame for this research was a two [H6] month period. The areas of focus for both aspects of this study were particularly in regards to discovering and documenting which varieties of internet-mediated language-use experience generate 1. the greatest amount of positive affect, and 2. the deepest sense of both agency and play, while contributing towards language acquisition. In seeking the greatest usefulness of data generated through the two aspects of research, I not only compare and contrast, but also look for similar themes between online L2 learning experiences, in English or Thai, using the different instruments for triangulation of data.

Because of the nature of the research, study location is irrelevant. The relevance to this research regarding location is that it be conducted by means of Internet, on a computer or mobile device with Thai font capacity (e.g. Thai Windows platform installed) and, in the case of MMOGs, on a local Thai server. Regardless, the researcher conducted the bulk of his research in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

1.4 Significance of the Study

Such a study, regardless of the specific L2 pursued, has a number of significant implications for the field of TESOL as a whole. First of all, it adds to the body of knowledge regarding agency and positive effect in relation to L2 acquisition experiences, thus pointing both teachers and learners towards the keys for more affective and effective learning. Secondly, such a study sheds light on whether Internet-mediated environments can leverage both play and learner agency, providing possibly more, or better, learning experiences than those available in traditional classroom settings. Finally, such a study points towards greater knowledge in the pursuit of providing ideal Internet-mediated learning experiences, both independent of and mediated by a teacher, for learners of all abilities and styles, and possibly towards new play and game oriented classroom methodologies as well. The first aspect of the study gauges the possibility of any broad differences (or demonstrates similarities) between Internet-mediated L2 acquisition in English and Thai; and the second provides deep, rich and nuanced insights into such experience.

1.5 Definitions of Terms [H7]

Internet-mediated experiences – any experience achieved through use of the Internet, either by computer (desktop, laptop), or mobile device (hand phone, tablet). For the purposes of this study, the emphasis is on any such experiences which primarily occur through, rely on, or make use of the second language (from here on, L2) (Thai or English) as a medium for instruction, communication, consumption, creation or play.

Positive affect – refers to positive emotion, in all forms. While this study aims to identify possible triggers of positive affect, I also make note of occurrences of negative affect, possibly pointing towards the experiential or technical deficiencies that trigger them.

Play – While a definition of play is highly elusive, I follow a combination of criteria for play as outlined by a number of authors. These comprise five freedoms noted by Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen (2009): “1. freedom to fail; 2. freedom to experiment; 3. freedom to fashion identities; 4. freedom of effort; and 5. freedom of interpretation” (4) Additionally, I make use of the concepts of play as a point midway between freedom and boredom, and as an activity characterized by the phenomenon of flow experience (Csikszentmihályi, 1971, 2007)

Agency – for the purposes of this study I define agency as a sixth freedom: the participant’s freedom to participate when and how he wishes.

Learner – while a ‘learner’ might normally be considered one actively and consciously engaged in the process of learning, in this study I have broadened this definition to also include those persons involved in activities in which one may simply be using their L2 online, for communicative or other purposes, and not consider themselves in an active learning phase at the time.

Conjecture – as it is used in the third research question, conjecture is not merely guesswork, but rather “the products of creative imagination” (Deutsch, 2011, p. 26), and “the real source of our theories” (ibid, 32), thus, a starting point for potential new knowledge.

ANNOUNCEMENT

2012-12-22T02:03:00.001-08:00

I've nearly completed my thesis, and will be posting it online over the next few days, one chapter per day. As will be seen in the following, Chapter One, it concerns online language learning in a teacherless environment. Any comments, feedback or questions would be greatly appreciated -

Coursebook Analysis Project – interchange Student’s Book 1

2012-10-03T18:50:00.003-07:00

Coursebook Analysis Project – interchange Student’s Book 1

Christopher Stern

This is a brief analysis of the coursebook interchange (Student’s Book 1), Third Edition, by Jack Richards. The framework used is primarily that produced by Littlejohn, in which he claims his concern is “to enable a close analysis of materials themselves, to investigate their nature, as a step distinct from evaluating their worth for specified purposes or contexts.” (Littlejohn, 2011: 181) However, I will conduct my analysis in prose, rather than utilizing his very effective grid format for analysis. Although admittedly certain stages of this process require more subjective judgements (ibid, 185), I will attempt to avoid making many conclusions regarding worth, and so I have titled this report and analysis, and not an evaluation.

Beginning with what Littlejohn refers to as the aspects of publication (ibid, 183), Book 1 begins at a false beginner level, starting, as is common for this level, with introductions, question formation, and “getting to know you” activities, and ending at an upper beginner or lower pre-intermediate level with description of changes, the use of multiple verb tenses, and discussing the future. It is a 113-page full color softbound A4 page-sized coursebook, with an activities section including one activity for each unit of study, a condensed self-study section for review, self-study audio scripts, a self-study answer key, and an appendix containing lists of countries and nationalities, irregular verbs and comparative and superlative adjectives at the back of the book. It comes with a self-study audio CD. Therefore, in regards to access, the coursebook allows for and even appears to encourage a good degree of learner autonomy.

The course material is divided into 16 units, each unit subdivided into topics, speaking, grammar, pronunciation/listening, writing/reading and activity sections. According to the authors “The course combines topics, functions, and grammar” and focuses on “the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, in addition to vocabulary and pronunciation.” (Richards, 2005: iii) Accordingly, it reflects “some degree of integration” of functional, topical, task and skills based underpinnings, and, as in most courses, there is “a number of different syllabus strands, such as grammar linked to skills and texts, tasks linked to topics and functions, or skills linked to topics and texts.” (Richards, 2001: 164) Upon examination of a random unit, 5 (greater depth follows), in which almost all activities maintain a focus on the topic of family, the above mentioned qualification remains very much in place. This unit is placed between a unit with the topical focus on music, likes and dislikes, and one focusing on sports, fitness and routines. Thus, in regards to continuity, interchange appears to offer a high degree of continuity within units, and a sufficient degree of continuity, also accommodating variety, between units.

In order to assess what Littlejohn calls design, which “relates to the thinking underlying the materials” (Littlejohn, 2011: 183), I will look at unit 5 in more detail, providing an analysis of the learning activities, what they require learners to do, their interaction requirements, and how they draw on learners’ competence. I will then infer their principles of selection and sequencing. In the process, I will briefly discuss the implications of language selected for learner instructions, learner roles and teacher roles, and the role of the material as a whole in regards to how it might fit into a course framework. (ibid) Because this involves moving through “different ‘levels’ of analysis, making more and more inferences, with increasingly subjective judgements” (ibid, 185), this stage of the process will inevitably become less an analysis and more an evaluation. To provide an overview, the various strands of the unit as presented in the book’s plan are (summarized): titles/topics – Tell me about your family, speaking – talking about families, grammar – present continuous and use of quantifiers (all, nearly all, a few, etc.), pronunciation/listening – intonation in statements and listening for family relationships, writing about family and reading about changes in family activities, and an activity – “family facts” (a “find someone who” activity). The units comprises six pages (out of a total of 113), and activities are laid out with sufficient space, attractive color illustrations and photos, and plenty of white space.

The unit begins with a vocabulary presentation activity in the form of a family tree. Learners are instructed to “Add these words to the family tree” (All following coursebook related quotes are from: Richards, 2005: 30-35.) and are given a list of seven words. The assumption, based on instructions, is that learners would operate individually, although the teacher could easily instruct learners to work in pairs, or to check their work in groups. Part B of this first activity personalizes the vocabulary, by asking learners to “Draw your family tree (or a friend’s family tree). Then take turns talking about your families. Ask follow-up questions ...” Clearly, learners are instructed to work in pairs, and the activity requires learners to speak. As units 2 and 4 had previously focused on question formation, this activity provides good recycling of language. Activity 2 provides photographs of pairs of famous people and instructs learners to “Listen to four conversations about famous people. How are they related?” This activity requires learners to use new lexis, and possibly to make inferences (i.e. ‘Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are married’ > They are husband and wife.)

The following activity 3 ‘Conversation Asking about families’, following the same topic, is also listening focused, fist asking learners to “Listen and practice” (a transcript is given), and then (B) to “Listen to the rest of the conversation” and answer two questions. Activity 4, pronunciation, is also a “Listen and practice” activity focusing on falling intonation in statements. While activity 2 is a solo learner activity, both activities 3 and 4 ask learners either directly or indirectly to work in pairs. Both activities 3 and 4, incidentally, and without mention, introduce learners to statements in the present continuous. While input is provided here, the activities do not ask learners to direct their attention to it. In this regard, it appears that the book provides an initial inductive approach to structure.

The present continuous is then formally (in every sense) introduced on the following page in activity 5, “Grammar Focus,” which provides a text box with a number of sample questions with positive and negative responses, all in the present continuous. This is followed by a set of (phone conversation) cloze dialogues, with interpretive illustration to provide clues to meaning, requiring learners to “Complete these phone conversations using the present continuous.” This is clearly a focus on form activity, to be completed individually. The activity does not provide any contrast with the present simple, and its particular set of meanings. It seems there has been an opportunity lost here to activate learners’ higher order thinking skills through having to differentiate between present continuous and present simple (think two illustrations, job – john at a desk, now – john at a café: John ______________ a lawyer. John ______________ coffee with friends). Part B, pair work, asks learners to practice the conversations. The activities, up until this point, are highly instructive, and allow learners to use language while focusing on meaning. Activity 1B allows for personalization as well as some open spoken production of language. However, the other activities are fairly rigid, allowing learners to produce only scripted language, and engaging primarily lower-order thinking skills. On the other hand, the prescriptive aspect of these activities may be excused as the presentation stage of the lesson, and they are to a degree cooperative if not communicative, as they take every opportunity to make use of pair work.

Activity 6, discussion, is a group work activity in which learners are instructed to “Ask your classmates about people in their family. What are they doing now? ...” Here, the focus is clearly on getting learners to use the present continuous tense in a meaningful and non-prescriptive way. A text box with some suggested “topics to ask about,” as well as some sample questions, is provided. The following activity 7 utilizes one of the “interchange activities” provided at the back of the book. It is titled “Family Facts” and it is a “find someone who” mingling activity. While it does not have a clear goal-oriented outcome, it is the closest to a real task among any of the activities in the unit. While “find someone who ...” activities usually only provide the requisite information (“Find someone who is an only child”), leaving learners the task of working out the associated question (“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”), this activity sheet provides scripted questions as well. As such, it effectively fails to capitalize on an opportunity to activate learners’ higher order thinking and unscripted production. (While the final instruction is to “Ask follow-up questions on your own,” this appears as an afterthought, and seems would be as easily ignored by learners as it was initially by me while writing this analysis). Considering that this has been required of learners in activity 6, there is every reason to believe learners should be capable of unscripted oral production in this activity. Furthermore, some of the items are tricky. For example, items 6 and 8 are inconsistent. Item 6, “...who has a great-grandparent still living,” has the associated question “Is your great-grandmother or great-grandfather still living?” while item 8, “...whose mother or father is studying English,” has the associated question “Is either of your parents studying English? Where?” Why not “Is your mother or father studying English?” as in item 6? And not only has item 8 introduced the only logical follow-up question, thus denying learners an opportunity, it has introduced, but not explained, the problematic construction “Is either of ...” In any case, if “Where?” is the type of follow-up question learners are intended to ask, it seems that the expected verbal output is a drastically reduced and under-challenging form. To compound matters, while activity 10, “Grammar Focus – Quantifiers” introduces many new lexical items, this relevant item “either of,” is not included.

The remainder of the unit consists of five additional activities. Activity 8, Snapshot, provides information about typical US families, and an opportunity for students to personalize the activity by providing information about their own country (asking learners to “Write your guesses.” and “Tell your class your guesses.”). This would be another good opportunity to allow group discussion, as it surely would generate more discussion, and perhaps disagreement, than “Tell your class” would engender. Activity 9 is another scripted “Listen and practice” dialogue. Activity 9B asks learners to “Listen to the rest of the conversation. What does Mei-li like about being an only child?” Thus, it is training learners in selective listening strategy. However, the instructions do not provide for any check up on answers, either in pairs, groups, or as a class. This is the case with many of the activities (1A, 2, 3B, 5A, 9B, and 12A). For this reason, it seems this coursebook allows a good degree of teacher discretion with regard to how activities might be followed up. While this is an advantage for experienced teachers, it could lead to some oversight by less experienced teachers (although this is likely addressed in the Teacher’s Book). Activity 10 provides an additional grammar focus, taking the shape of a text box with language input and transformation exercise. Activity 11 is a writing activity, “An email about your family.” In groups learners are then instructed to “Take turns reading your emails. Ask questions to get more information.” In 12 - Reading, “The Changing Family,” activity A asks learners to read the article, then “answer these questions” which require learners to scan the text for specific information. It is not clear whether scanning is an activity which is supposed to be done after, or in place of reading for general understanding, as the instructions “Read the article” do not appear on their own or above the article, but only below it, and in tandem with the instructions “Then answer these questions.” The first two questions asks learners about which people “is/are benefitting from” something. It seems that this particular lexis item has not been introduced in the coursebook so far – it is not to be seen in this unit or in the associated reading passage - and may be beyond the level of students at this level. Activity B instructs learners “Pair work What problems are Steve and Judy having? Which do you think is the most serious? Offer some solutions for that problem.” These instructions also may be troublesome. First of all, learners are not specifically instructed to discuss. Secondly, up to this point in the coursebook there has been no introduction of the language learners would need in order to “Offer some solutions,” namely modals of ability can and could, or of obligation, should, ought to or must. This seems to set learners up for a situation in which the teacher will almost certainly instinctively intervene, in order to introduce new language, language which could not be reasonably expected of them.

All of the other units offer roughly the same types of activities in more or less the same sequence. So, each unit in this coursebook can be said to be arranged in a cycle (Graves, 2000: 141). As a whole, interchange seems to offer a good amount of incidental recycling of language, but no actual spiraling among any of its organizing principles – topics, functions, and grammar. This is typical of a single coursebook in a series, and it is likely that interchange 2 or 3 spirals back to some of the elements introduced in this book. The language input is generally quite sufficient, and aimed at an appropriate level, although at times, as noted, some potentially problematic elements may have been left unattended. Overall, the activities make good use of variety of interaction patterns, and frequently require learners to produce verbal output. However, the output is often of a scripted or reduced form. While the cycle in each unit seems to follow a P-P-P format, there is actually very little free production expected of learners. Furthermore, opportunities for learners to produce language for a real audience or to engage in a real task seem to have been missed. As an example, I will discuss activity 11, Writing, in more detail. The instructions are to “Write an e-mail to your e-pal about your family.” A portion of a sample e-mail is given. “Your e-pal” is a fictional construct. It holds no reality for learners. Furthermore, this is likely to be done in a classroom, so it will be done in pen on paper, not in an e-mail format. Instructing learners to ‘write a message to your classmates about your family,’ would provide them a real and immediate audience. In part B learners are asked to “take turns reading your e-mails. Ask questions to get more information.” Although this is a communicative activity, it is not very dynamic, and lacks any clear goal. With such a writing assignment, I would frequently give students half an A4 sheet of paper on which to write their message, thus giving them a clear spatial limit. I would then impose a strict time limit. Following this, I would instruct learners to stand up, with half on one side, and the other half on the other side of the classroom. Learners would then be instructed to crumple their message into a little ball and throw it at someone on the opposite ‘team.’ I would instruct them to keep picking up and throwing paper balls for a period of time. They should then find one paper ball and uncrumple it. If it is their message, they must crumple and throw it again. Finally, they must read the message and ask questions of other learners in order to determine whose message they have. This is a dynamic activity with a clear communicative goal, and is not entirely of my own invention. It shocks and activates a sense of fun in learners of any age. However, I would not expect any textbook to instruct learners to do any such thing. I provide this activity merely as a contrast, to show how much more meaningful, and fun, some of the activities in interchange could be made to be. Accordingly, it might be interpreted as an advantage that interchange allows so much from for creativity on the part of teachers, as many of its activities easily lend themselves to modification.

Overall, interchange is an attractive, and very competently developed coursebook, offering effective and engaging activities for learners, presented clearly and in an appropriate sequence. However, it reveals several shortcomings, as elaborated above, and could certainly be improved upon in future editions. For the novice teacher, it appears to cover enough bases, with enough clarity, that little oversight may occur, although there is room for improvement. For the experienced teachers, it offers a sufficient degree of adaptability that they may easily use it as a starting point for developing new and more engaging activities tailored for their particular learners. Within the framework of an average single level, 40 hour course, inclusive of mid-term and final tests, probably only the first half of the book would be covered, as one unit appears to be appropriate for roughly four hours of learning activity, although this will vary according to teacher and class. With regard to the “value system encoded” (Singapore Wala, 2003: 62) in the coursebook, interchange offers a fair representation of English speaking cultures, a culturally inclusive cast of fictional characters, and sufficient opportunities for personalization of content by learners.

word count: 2913

References

¨ Graves, K. (2000). Designing Language Courses – A Guide for Teachers. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

¨ Littlejohn, A. (2011). ‘The analysis of language teaching materials: inside the Trojan Horse’ in Tomlinson (Ed.) Materials Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Richards, J. (2001). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Richards, J. (2005). Interchange, Third Edition. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Singapore Wala, D.A. (2003). ‘A Coursebook is What It is because of What It has to Do: An Editor’s Perspective,’ in Tomlinson, B. Developing Materials for Language Teaching. London: Continuum.

ESP – MA Preparatory Course

2012-09-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Curriculum Development Project

ESP – MA Preparatory Course

Christopher Stern

I . BACKGROUND

Research Background

In response to observing greater levels of challenge for some students in our program, in October 2011 I carried out needs analysis research in order to determine some of the potential design parameters for an ESP course for non-native speaker students on MA programs such as the MA-TESOL offered at Payap University. My research took two forms: casual observation and interaction with other students, in particular non-native speaker students on our program, and, secondly, CMC based interviews conducted through Facebook’s chat function with three non-native speaker students. The reasons for selecting a CMC format for interviews are the casual nature of the interaction, along with the aspect of automatic transcription.

Interviews with three students matched my general impressions and predictions for outcomes of interviews with teaching staff. Non-native speaker (NNS) students find the greatest difficulties in two areas: participating in class discussions, and familiarity with the genre of academic writing. Thus, these would be the logical two areas for main focus. Another area of focus identified is that of familiarizing students with the types of activities and reading they will be doing on an MA program, as it is significantly different from what they have experienced as undergraduate students. The final area of possible focus is the development of critical thinking skills (as yet addressed only incidentally in this particular curriculum design), which, as one student states, entails the development of reflective activity: “learning and observing why my ideas are different from others and reading more the related further reading.”

Social Context

Non-native speakers of English studying on Master’s Degree programs conducted in English in non-English speaking environments such as Thailand, Slovakia, Germany or Japan face a unique set of challenges. While they must be prepared to do all of their coursework in English, the environment outside of the university rarely serves to further enhance their English abilities. As such, the stimulus for the further development of their English ability occurs almost only within the confines of their university experience.

(N. B. This paper makes reference to a separate Needs Analysis document)

Additional difficulty arises in the classroom, in which students are expected to participate in discussions in seminar-type courses, as opposed to being silent recipients of lectures. Asian students in particular may experience lower levels of comfort with this style of education. This occurs on both linguistic and cultural levels, and may stem from lack of exposure to this type of teaching and learning style in their educational histories.

Curriculum Ideology

This course is founded upon a combination of text-based, genre-based and skills-based approaches. A text-based syllabus is “one that is built around texts and samples of extended discourse.” (Richards, 2001: 163) Furthermore, a text-based syllabus is a form of integrated syllabus (ibid). It is through this text-based, along with a genre-based approach that the formal aspects of academic writing can best be addressed. Graves (2000: 48) in summarizing Feez, states: “A course organized around genre or text would involve learners in understanding and analyzing texts on a number of levels including the lexico-grammatical level, the discourse level, and the socio-cultural level; it would also involve them in producing texts.” This type of depth of analysis and understanding is exactly what is required at the MA level, and is exactly what is so challenging for NNS to undertake. In order to address the process of writing, as well as listening, reading and speaking sub-skills, a skills-based syllabus best fits the bill. Regarding skills-based syllabi, Richards states “Approaching a language through skills is based on the belief that learning a complex activity such as “listening to a lecture” involves mastery of a number of micro-skills that together make up the activity.” (2001: 159) In examining sub-skills, such as writing topic sentences, differentiating main and supporting ideas, listening for key information and discourse markers, reading for gist, guessing words from context, and using communication strategies (ibid, 160), it is evident that these are exactly the sort of skills students need to focus on.

II. NEEDS ANALYSIS

Students’ Proficiency Level and Needs

The students who comprise the audience for this course generally have an upper-intermediate to advanced level of English ability. They have a strong academic background, but may still be unprepared in some ways for MA level coursework. Richards comments: “The first step in conducting a needs analysis is therefore to decide exactly what its purpose or purposes are.” (2001:52) The purpose of the needs analysis conducted was to discover which specific tasks involved in the undertaking of a MA program (in the field of social sciences) conducted in English that NNS students find most difficult and indicate appropriate teaching / learning activities which will best address them. Among many possible needs mentioned by Richards are the identification of language skills learners need “in order to perform a particular role” and “to identify a gap between what students are able to do and what they need to be able to do” (2001: 52). It was found that those ‘gaps’ common to most students involved active participation in class discussions, and academic writing. It is with these particular purposes in mind that I have created the following curriculum design.

III. Scope and Sequence

Goals & Objectives

At the end of this course, students will be able to:

§ Read, comprehend and analyze academic writing.

§ Participate effectively in class discussions.

§ Produce academic writing based on an understanding of both academic genre (product) and the steps or stages of writing (process).

§ Engage critical thinking skills.

§ Utilize listening, reading, time management, word attack and text attack strategies.

Time frame & Schedule

The course is optional for students scoring 6.5 or above on IELTS, and mandatory for those scoring 6 or below. It is a 50 hour course, meeting for 20 hours per week for the two weeks prior to the first term of MA coursework (4 hours x 5 days/week), followed by two hours per week for the first five weeks of the first term.

Coursework undertaken after the start of the term utilizes materials and projects from the students’ MA coursework in class. Activities consist of groupwork; discussion, brainstorming, peer review and editing.

Methods of Instruction

Instruction of reading and writing initially follow a text-based discourse analysis approach, using model texts both for comprehension and product-based instruction of writing. Texts are authentic academic or research documents and may come from a variety of social sciences, based on the balance and interests of the students enrolled. Reading and writing includes both extensive in-class and homework activity.

Instruction of reading additionally follows a skills-based approach, teaching sub-skills of skimming, scanning, and inferring. This methodology is primarily addressed through in-class activities. Other skills are also addressed through a skills-based approach. In addition to genre-based writing instruction, students learn the process of writing through a skills-based approach, learning sub-skills of note-taking, paraphrasing, brainstorming, understanding relevance, outlining, drafting, editing, sourcing and formatting.

Both listening and speaking skills are addressed through instruction combining genre-based and skills-based approaches. Listening activities ideally make extensive use of pre-recorded class lectures and discussions from actual course activity on TESOL and other MA level social science programs, and involve both strategy instruction and practice, and the implementation of specific listening tasks. (Field, 2002: 244) such as mapping an argument. Recordings are also analyzed for main points, supporting points, discourse markers, etc. from both a discourse and sub-skills framework. Speaking skills can be addressed not only through class and small group discussion of reading materials, but also through a sub-skills approach examining initiating, supporting and closing an argument as well as rebuttal, and also through a genre-based analysis of turn-taking and conversational dynamics.

Activity & Task Types

In-class activity includes a large focus on writing (at least 40% of class time), examining both the formal details of academic writing as well as the process of producing good writing. In-class activity is also devoted to reading skills, text-attack and word-attack strategies, as well as other strategy instruction and practice. A good deal of time (2-4 hours per day ) of after-course (homework) activity is also required of students, the largest portion comprising reading and writing.

Activities to improve students’ speaking skills include guided discussions and group discussions much as those seen on the MA course, as well as presentation activities. Group discussions make use of both divergent tasks, such as informal debate, and convergent two-way activities such as problem-solving tasks (Nunan, 1991: 50). Students additionally engage in pair and group discussion exercising their “ability to reflect critically on one’s performance as a language user” (ibid, 49). Further in-class activity revolves around PowerPoint and presentation skills, making the best use of academic resources such as ProQuest, and time management strategies.

Sequence

The first 40 hours of coursework occurs in a two-week period, meeting four hours per day, from 8:00 am to 10am, then 10:30 am to 12:30 pm, five days per week, from Monday until Friday. The instruction is as follows:

Unit 1. Reading academic texts: genre analysis - formal details of academic writing. Identifying main points, highlighting. Word and text attack strategies. Reading strategies, including prediction, questioning, and summarizing (Farrell, 2009: 39-44), skimming and scanning, understanding inferences and analyzing texts.

Unit 2. Listening strategies: genre analysis of classroom discussion, listening for main points and signposting words. Pre-listening schema building and training in listening strategies (Nunan, 2002: 238-41) Discussing texts: identifying and agreeing or disagreeing with aspects of an argument. Supporting your opinion. Note-taking. Time-management strategies.

Unit 3. Process writing I: understanding assignments, brainstorming, finding relevance, organizing ideas, using sources, outlining, main points and supporting points, drafting.

Unit 4. Process writing II: creating coherence and cohesion, signposting, editing for content and style, formal considerations, quotes, references and sources. Identifying and fixing common mistakes.

Unit 5. Putting it all together: group written assignment / presentation, peer editing for content and style, discussion. Keeping a vocabulary notebook and other vocabulary building strategies. Powerpoint basics. Public speaking. Managing your time and maximizing your resources.

The final ten hours of instruction is scheduled two hours per week, in late afternoon on Thursday or Friday of each of the first five weeks of the academic term. In-class activity follows up on what students have been doing in their MA coursework and how they have been applying, and can continue to apply what they have learned in this course. As such, it involves the practical application of Units 1 though 5 to their MA coursework. In-class activities include discussion of course readings, and peer group discussion and editing of written projects. Additional activities could include ongoing time-management monitoring, and practice runs, with feedback, of presentations that students will have to give for MA coursework.

Sample Unit of Study

Unit 4. Process writing II: (8 hours instruction)

Creating coherence and cohesion – material: students’ draft essays produced for homework during the previous Unit 3. Students work in groups of 3 or 4, reading each others’ essays for understanding and clarity of argument. Where students notice breakdown of coherence or clarity they mark their peer’s work for discussion and improvement.
Editing for content and style - class discussion of students’ texts regarding breakdown of coherence and cohesion. Teacher introduces and outlines elements of coherence and cohesion (reference pronouns, proper sequencing, transitional & relational conjunctions) through sample texts and in-class activities. An example of such an activity might include groups of students grouping phrases (printed on card, and placed physically on classroom walls with blu-tack), based on indication of addition, contradiction, cause, effect, etc. Students then engage in groupwork editing for content and style, especially with respect to coherence and cohesion.
Formal considerations, signposting words - class discussion and group editing. Teacher and class discuss paragraphing, introduction, body, and conclusion as they normally occur in academic writing. Other, less academic written rhetorical modes such as narration, description, and causal analysis (McCuren and Winkler, 1998: 299), focusing on formal similarities and differences, are examined through use of sample texts. Discussion of the use and proper formats for appendices.
Quotes & references - class discussion and group editing. Teacher and class discuss APA style, using quotes, and paraphrasing. Instruction and activities concerning the process of paraphrasing, including identifying key points, use of synonyms, antonyms, and substitution. Strategy instruction: keeping track and making best use of sources.
Identifying & fixing common mistakes - class discussion and group editing: fragments & run-ons, verb agreement & tense, singular/plural, pronoun agreement, simple & complex sentences, prepositions, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. Activities include strategies for identifying and fixing common problems, making use of student writing samples in class, group and individual work.

Course Implementation and Evaluation

As this course has been developed from a purely conjectural standpoint, there is no plan for actual implementation. However, were there a single or inter-departmental approval for such a course, it could potentially be implemented through any of a number of organizations at Payap University. Additionally, this is clearly a curriculum design which could hold interest for any number of universities offering international master’s degree programs in the social sciences.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the program should be accomplished through a number of means. As proof of the value of the course lies in students’ enhanced ability to undertake the MA coursework, students would not be required to take a summative exam. Therefore, this is not an appropriate means of evaluation for the success of the students or the course itself. This is not problematic, as evaluation does not necessarily require testing. The value in collecting data in this case is in acquiring reliable and relevant information regarding the effectiveness of the course. This information does not need to be quantitative – qualitative information can be equally of value. (Bachman, 1997: 22) Student feedback in the form of questionnaires, including both open and closed-ended questions should be given both after the first forty hours of instruction, and again at the end of the course. Feedback from instructors on associated MA courses should also be sought, either through questionnaires or formal interviews, in order to assess their perception of students’ preparedness for MA coursework in comparison to students from previous terms who had not had such a preparatory course. Results from such feedback can then be used in improving further iterations of the course.

References

¨ Bachman, L.F. (1997) Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing. Oxford: OUP.

¨ Basturkmen, H. (2010). Developing Courses in English for Specific Purposes. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

¨ Farrell, T.S.C. (2009) Teaching Reading to English Language Learners. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

¨ Field, J. ‘The Changing Face of Listening,’ in Richards & Renandya (Eds.) Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Genesee, F. & Upshur, J.A. (1998) Classroom-based Evaluation in Second Language Education. Cambridge: CUP.

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An examination of play, agency and positive affect in online English and Thai language use by non-native speakers A Thesis Proposal MATESOL Program Payap University Christopher Stern

2012-08-26T03:30:00.001-07:00

An examination of play, agency and positive affect in online English and Thai language use by non-native speakers

A Thesis Proposal

Christopher Stern

1.1 Background and Rationale

An examination of the intersection between technology and language learning is an overwhelming endeavor. In narrowing the scope of this general topic it is perhaps better to examine the intersection of emergent technologies and language learning, whereby we can elaborate on the specific pertinent technologies. This can effectively undergo a binary division, between CALL (computer assisted language learning) and MALL (mobile[device] assisted language learning). Yet this is only one of other possible divisions, as CALL offers elements such as CMC (computer mediated communication), virtual worlds, and gaming. Within the literature, while MALL is typically considered a learner-centered (class and ‘teacherless’) modality, CALL, in the majority of the literature, is examined as an element within an educationally defined setting. With regards to technology, this review will focus on CALL rather than MALL.

1.2 Objectives of the Study

This research is to be carried out in search of emic, autonomous (‘teacherless’) learner-centered learning experiences engendered through Internet-mediated experiences. The goal, or framework of this research, is to address these three questions: Firstly, from the emic perspective, in the process of non-instructed, Internet-mediated L2 activity, what activities enable agency [H2] and best encapsulate the elements of both play and positive affect while leading to L2 acquisition? ‘Internet-mediated L2 activities’ includes a broad spectrum of modalities available for L2 activity on the Internet, ranging from chat to blogging, games, and others, as will be discussed further in the literature review portion of this document. The focus here is both on gaining insights into the mechanisms of the technology and the user experience of such technologies. [H3] Secondly, does this emic perspective differ depending on the specific L2 being acquired through non-instructed, Internet-mediated L2 activity, and do similarities also occur? The two L2 being examined here are Thai and English. The link between these two questions lies in the conjecture that the L2 acquisition process, regardless of the target L2, basically proceeds in a similar fashion. The intersection of these two research questions should serve to shed light on whether this conjecture also holds true for L2 acquisition in an Internet-mediated environment. If some differences do exist, these can then be seen as areas in which any conclusions regarding Thai L2 acquisition may not be transferrable to English L2 acquisition, and vice versa. It may also be interesting to consider whether such possible differences result from differences in the target L2, or differences in the cultural and technical knowledge backgrounds of the participants. If similarities exist in some areas, these may be areas in which any observations or conclusions are transferable and applicable to any L2[H4] .[H5]

1.3 Scope of the Study

There are two aspects to the research, each serving slightly differing objectives. The first involves surveys and interviews of both English and Thai language learners in order to gain insight into the means by which they experience L2 language use and learning through Internet-mediated experiences, as well as the emotional character of those experiences. The second involves the examination from an emic perspective the researcher’s second language (Thai) learning experience through Internet mediation (using both mobile device and computer). The time frame for this research is a two [H6] month period. The areas of focus for both aspects of this study are particularly in regards to discovering and documenting which varieties of internet-mediated language-use experience generate 1. the greatest amount of positive affect, and 2. the deepest sense of both agency and play, while contributing towards language acquisition. In seeking the greatest usefulness of data generated through the two aspects of research, I will not only compare and contrast, but also look for similar themes between online L2 learning experiences, in English or Thai, using the different instruments for triangulation of data.

Because of the nature of the research, study location is irrelevant. The relevance to this research regarding location is that it be conducted by means of internet, on a computer or mobile device with Thai font capacity (e.g. Thai Windows platform installed) and, in the case of MMOGs, on a local Thai server. Regardless, the researcher intends to conduct the bulk of his research in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

1.4 Significance of the Study

Such a study, regardless of the specific L2 pursued, has a number of significant implications for the field of TESOL as a whole. First of all, it will add to the body of knowledge regarding agency and positive effect in relation to L2 acquisition experiences, thus pointing both teachers and learners towards the keys for more affective and effective learning. Secondly, such a study will shed light on whether Internet-mediated environments can leverage both play and learner agency, providing possibly more, or better, learning experiences than those available in traditional classroom settings. Finally, such a study will point towards greater knowledge in the pursuit of providing ideal Internet-mediated learning experiences, both independent of and mediated by a teacher, for learners of all abilities and styles, and possibly towards new play and game oriented classroom methodologies as well. The first aspect of the study gauges the possibility of any broad differences (or demonstrates similarities) between Internet-mediated L2 acquisition in English and Thai; and the second provides deep, rich and nuanced insights into such experience.

1.5 Definitions of Terms [H7]

Internet-mediated experiences – any experience achieved through use of the Internet, either by computer (laptop), or mobile device (hand phone). For the purposes of this study, the emphasis is on any such experiences which primarily occur through, rely on, or make use of Thai language as a medium for instruction, communication, consumption, creation or play.

Positive affect – refers to positive emotion, in all forms. While this study aims to identify possible triggers of positive affect, I may also frequently make note of occurrences of negative affect, possibly pointing towards the experiential or technical deficiencies that trigger them.

Play – While a definition of play is highly elusive, I will follow a combination of criteria for play as outlined by a number of authors. These comprise five freedoms noted by Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen (2009): “1. freedom to fail; 2. freedom to experiment; 3. freedom to fashion identities; 4. freedom of effort; 5. freedom of interpretation” (4) Additionally, I will make use of the concepts of play as a point midway between freedom and boredom, and as an activity characterized by the phenomenon of flow experience (Csikszentmihályi, 1971, 2007)

Agency – for the purposes of this study I define agency as a sixth freedom: the participant’s freedom to participate when and how he wishes.

2. Literature Review[H8]

2.1 Overview Studies

In the article ‘Current Trends in Online Language Learning’ (2011), Robert J. Blake serves to provide an overview of studies in online language learning (henceforth: OLL), making very few of his own value judgments or conclusions. The article covers four areas: online learning in general, CALL (computer assisted language learning), social computing (ie. social networking sites, blogs), and games for language learning. It begins by covering online learning in general, dividing OLL into 3 models: web-facilitated, hybrid, and totally virtual. Blake cites information stating that in the last decade online course growth has been about 19%, while overall enrollments have grown by only 1.5%. Furthermore, efficacy studies “showed that students who took all or part of their classes online performed better than those in traditional face-to-face learning environments.” (Blake, 2011: 21). Students in hybrid courses did best. According to studies cited, the greatest value lies in that OLL environments “stimulate students to spend more time engaged with the second language (L2) materials.” (ibid)

Blake goes on to discuss tutorial CALL, which he states generally consists of ‘drill-and-kill’ type grammar exercises. The next function of CALL Blake deals with is the use of computers to aid learners in improving both reading ability and lexis acquisition. He makes two important points here. The first is that “developing an adequate L2 lexicon will not happen without some form of explicit instruction or graded reading program”, and that the computer can be of help in this regard by “tracking students’ lexical problems and providing them with multiple exposures to new words through graded texts, glossing, or explicit instruction” (ibid, 22). This is very much in line with Vygostsky’s idea of dynamic assessment and its application to C-DA (computer-aided dynamic assessment), which “would likely follow an interventionist model with mediation offered from a menu of predetermined clues, hints and leading questions selected in a lock-step fashion ...C-DA tracks learners’ errors as well as the precise forms of mediation that prove beneficial” (Lantolf & Poehner, 2010: 282) The second point he makes is that, with regard to reading comprehension, “students with access to multimedia glosses (i.e. text plus picture) outperformed all other groups” (Blake, 2011: 23).

Even more attuned to the concept of C-DA is Intelligent CALL (iCALL), which is the next topic of Blake’s review. iCALL utilizes “a modicum of artificial intelligence”, and “seeks to individualize instruction by using a record of student’s previous exchanges to determine further instruction”. As a result, it “should be designed to anticipate students’ mistakes, offer helpful suggestions, and keep track of their behavior while using the program.” (ibid, 24) Because of the rather technical nature of Blake’s explanation, he fails to convey the excitement of the fact that iCALL is, at heart, interaction with an extremely smart computer that tracks one’s mistakes and the types of clues which help one to overcome them. Kervin & Derewianka, in their review of similar scope, note that iCALL programs “enable interaction with a ‘patient tutor’,” that they “are generally free or cheap, they engender confidence, they can ‘converse’ on a wide range of topics and engage in lengthy interactions, and they can take on ‘personalities’ and learn as they interact, ensuring novelty.” (Kervin & Derewianka, cited in Tomlinson, 2011: 335) While Kervin & Derewianka comment on a few such programs for English learning, such as Jabberwock and ‘chatterbot’, according to Blake, there are so far unfortunately no such programs for English. Accordingly, Blake provides brief reviews of three iCALL programs for other languages: E-Tutor for German, Tagarela for Portuguese, and Robo-Sensei for Japanese.

Blake continues by outlining developments in the use of Social Computing CALL in language teaching. This consists of both asynchronous and synchronous CMC (computer-mediated communication). Asynchronous CMC includes blogs, wikis, email, and forums, while synchronous CMC includes various forms of chat, as well as audio enhanced communication such as Skype. Blake notes the advantages of CMC - it “gives both the instructors and students the ability to direct the conversational flow ... [and] allows instructors and learners to engage in meaningful negotiations with all of the positive benefits associated with scaffolding” (Blake, 2011:26). He goes on to explain how it has been used in task-based language learning, through jigsaw tasks, information gap and open ended activities. Other studies cited demonstrate CMC’s effectiveness in exercises requiring cultural negotiation between native and non-native speakers.

While Blake’s paper appears to be exhaustive, clearly, it is not. Furthermore, in comparison to Kervin and Derewianka, who offer rich and insightful detail, Blake’s ‘Current Trends in Online Language Learning’ strikes one as somewhat of a dry compendium of soon-to-be-outdated information. Nonetheless, it is valuable as a well-written, concise and informative document detailing the dynamics of some of the current trends in online language learning, as its title implies. Kervin and Derewinka’s ‘New technologies to support language learning’ (2011), is written from the perspective of examining “the quality of learning that these resources facilitate and the extent to which their use reflects sound learning theory” (Kervin & Derewinka, 2011: 328). They examine the ways in which VoIP technology, as well as virtual worlds, such as Second Life, as mentioned above, have been put to use in the language classroom. They also discuss online resources for listening activities, ‘language immersion’ (see ‘Yabla’ and ‘Virtex,’ibid, 340) sites which feature authentic video and television clips, videos, drama, interviews, etc. that have been topically organized for language learning. They further outline web-based resources for lexical acquisition, speaking and pronunciation, reading, writing, grammar, and corpora usage, but, again, primarily from the standpoint of classroom usefulness. They finish with a brief section on ‘integrated learning environments,’ such as the teacher-dependent Moodle, and the learner-centered site Livemocha. While this paper provides a strong overview of CALL media, it is interesting to note that, aside from mention of virtual worlds such as Second Life (which do not meet many of the key criteria defining games), Kervin and Derewianka make no mention of language learning games or of the implications of commercially available games for language learning.

2.2 Social media and CMC: Identities and Communities

Turning our focus more specifically towards CMC, we find that it is often examined in tandem with the social networking, blogging and chat room sites which support it. A common methodological feature of the literature regarding social media and CMC is a focus on the emergence of identity construction and community building which these media engender. This is one of the specific foci of Steven Thorne and Rebecca Black’s ‘Language and Literacy Development in Computer-Mediated Contexts and Communities,’ published March 2007 in the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. This article reviews the research in “three distinct computer-mediated configurations: (1) instructed and institutional intraclass discussion and interclass partnerships, (2) transcultural partnerships and structured participation in “open” Internet environments, and (3) interaction in ongoing Internet-mediated environments that include popular culture blogs and Web sites, fanfiction communities, language and/or culture communities, and online games.” (Thorne & Black, 2007: 133) While still a review as opposed to original research, Thorne & Black provide a great deal of qualitative detail, and are fairly unique in reflecting a great deal on the learner perspective. They provide several insights into “language development through textually mediated, generally peer-focused, communication,” discussing “a number of pedagogical benefits” which include more overall language production and more authentic discourse. (ibid, 134) Of particular interest is exploration of “non-student identities” emerging from CMC, even within institutional contexts. (ibid, 135) They go on to speak of the prevalent research paradigm of “general preoccupation with the learner, at the expense of other potentially relevant social identities.” (from Firth & Wagner, 1997: 228, in Thorne & Black, 136) This point highlights the trap of focusing on the learner, even that of focusing on the learner from the learner’s perspective, if the individual is still conceptualized as a learner. Furthermore it indicates a gap in the research, one documenting the overall experiences an individual person (as opposed to learner) encounters when navigating through mediated environments in an L2, regardless of whether their language acquisition is purposeful or incidental.

Other advantages of CMC over classroom discourse mentioned are “multidirectional interaction” (ibid, 135), “decreased anxieties” (ibid, 137), and students’ possibility to “occupy the structural role of an expert.” (ibid, 138) This last point is one discussed in relation to games, by Jane McGonigal in Reality is Broken. She uses the Yiddish word naches to describe “the bursting pride we feel when someone we’ve taught or mentored succeeds,” and states: “It’s no surprise that mentoring our friends and family in gameplay makes us happy and brings us closer together. Paul Ekman, a pioneering emotions researcher and an expert on the phenomenon of naches, explains that this particular emotion is also likely an evolved mechanism, designed to enhance group survival.” (Mc Gonigal, 2011: 87) This point brings up the twin elements of emotion and motivation, yielding another gap in the literature, one arguably best explored from an emic perspective, namely, which mediated L2 experiences result in positive motivation, i.e., do learners find motivating? This problem can ideally be examined not only from a subjective, experiential perspective, but additionally, through emotions research as it relates to evolutionary theory, as McGonigal has in this case done.

In discussion of community building, Thorne and Black first examine what they call ICL2E, or internet-mediated intercultural second language education, in which groups of learners from (usually two) different countries and cultures are paired in order to learn both language and culture collaboratively (Thorne & Black, 2007: 138). The key point they make is that of the likelihood of “discursive gaps” or cultural misunderstandings, thus necessitating multiple instructor roles including “consciousness raising” and modeling an “intercultural stance” (ibid, 140) in order to help learners negotiate meaning. This stands in contrast to their later review of Lam’s study of another learner, Almon, who, through participation in a more static web-based media, that of “a Web site devoted to the Japanese pop (J-pop) singer Ryoko” had a very different experience, one which “bolstered Almon’s confidence in communicating with a supportive, transnational group of peers who shared his interests in popular culture.” (ibid, 144) This brings to focus the importance of context and intent, which may be the deciding factors in the appearance or avoidance of cultural misunderstandings, rather than that of synchronous or asynchronous media, or of teacher-moderation or the lack thereof. Such a consideration begs the question, which particular mediated contexts, and which varieties of learner intent, are most motivating, and in what regards, and yield the least degree of conflict and the greatest degree of inter-user synchrony?

What does emerge though, in regard to learner motivation, is the instrumentality of relationship development. Thorne and Black note “when personal relationships matter, academic treatments of grammar and pragmatics attain renewed relevance in the lives of speakers.” (ibid, 142) The final point Thorne and Black note in regards to the commonalities they find in much of the research (Black, Lam and Yi) on non-game Internet-mediated transcultural interaction is that “online communities provide ELL youth with new forums for taking on powerful authorial and social roles, even as they learn and develop fluency with multiple forms, languages, and online registers.” (ibid, 146) What seems to be missing, however, from the studies they review, is a learner’s perspective on how this takes place.

Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen, in their games-focused paper ‘Moving Learning Games Forward – Obstacles, Opportunities & Openness’ (2009) also provide a strong overview of “social networking, blogging, and other forms of user-generated content that fall under the larger banner of participatory culture.” (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen , 2009: 1) They begin by stating that social media are “clearly not games” (ibid, 12). They differentiate the two in saying that “While networking with friends, colleagues and people of similar interests is in many cases fun, it lacks most of the criteria (rules, goals, fantasy, etc.) that would make it a game. Certainly social networking, like just about any activity, can be turned into a game.” While not games, “Social networks themselves may also be powerful learning tools. There is much research that supports the notion of collaborative learning as an effective means of teaching and learning” (ibid, 13). They comment on one of the (rather predictable) ways that gamers make use of social media “as a way to exchange information about the games, to strengthen or form teams, as well as to provide help for new and struggling players.” (ibid, 14) As McGonigal also notes, the majority of MMO games feature either text based or Skype type communication in order for players to coordinate their efforts.

2.3 Virtual environments

Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen (2009) comment that virtual worlds, of which Second Life is the prime example, “have been call “digital dollhouses”, places where one builds virtual objects or landscapes in which one can play with their digital representations, or “avatars.”” (ibid, 14) They feature “the aesthetic and controls of a game, without building in some of the critical aspects of what make games powerful learning tools – feedback, structure, goals, or paths to progress.” (ibid, 15) As such, while they may foster interactivity, they leave an independent learner without any framework through which to create a sense of achievement or to motivate action.

‘Action Learning with Second Life – A Pilot Study,’ (2009) by C. Wagner and R. Ip reports on qualitative research in the use of Second Life “as an action learning environment in a senior course for management information systems students.” (Wagner & Ip, 2009: 249) While this report is not related to L2 learning per se, it offers a number of observations regarding virtual worlds and the relevant learning possibilities they enable. Wagner and Ip describe ‘action learning’ as “learning through actions and experiences” (ibid, 250), which is relatable to task based learning (TBL) in the modern ESL classroom. It is further relatable in that “Action learning is based on the relationship between reflection and action. It usually involves a group of people working together for a concentrated period of time.” (ibid) Virtual worlds are well-defined as “immersive, three-dimensional (3-D), multimedia, multi-person simulation environments, where each participant adopts an alter ego and interacts with the world in real time.” (ibid, 251) Given that “virtual worlds are in many ways more suitable for the classroom environment [than games], in that the instructor does not have to overlay his or her own objective system over one implemented within a game” (ibid), they are perhaps less suitable for autonomous learning. The authors discuss the obvious link between simulation and training (e.g. flight simulation), which is essentially the basis for the study. They state “The value of virtual worlds for student learning can be viewed as triadic,” consisting of a platform for: 1.skills development and interaction with others, 2. the sharing of information and knowledge, and 3. business.” (ibid, 252) Thus, while virtual environments such as Second Life provide very little structure, they may be ideal platforms for learner activity within a class context, or for the context of a classroom within Second Life, as noted above.

2.4 Play

In framing these five freedoms in relation to games, they state: “within the proscribed space of a game, players regularly exhibit all of the freedoms of unstructured play. Most players undertake games in the knowledge that failure is a possibility. They show a willingness to experiment in their game-play, and to try on different roles from leader to follower, novice to expert.” (from Gee, 2003 in Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009: 5) In relation to the questions I am posing, it is therefore essential that any study undertaken be done so in a manner that is not prescriptive, in order to maintain these various elements of freedom in the interest of play. Regarding the element of rules in games, Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen make the observation that “it is in the moment when “pushing against” [rules] is transformed into a meta-reflective “questioning about” that learning truly takes place.” (ibid, 6) This is clearly relatable to Vygotsky’s notion of a zone of proximal development, in which learners always learn best when working at the outer boundary of their abilities(Lantolf & Poehner), and that learners may approach rules much as they approach their abilities – something to push against in the pursuit of meaning.

Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi, a seminal researcher in the fields of positive psychology and play, with Stith Bennet, provide some very different interpretations of the meaning of play in their paper ‘An Exploratory Model of Play’ (1971). Situating play at the midpoint between worry and boredom, they state that “when we can make each action by voluntary fiat, but still do not exhaust possible actions, the necessary conditions for play are established.” (Csíkszentmihályi & Bennet, 1971: 46) Further characteristics of play are “the actor’s lack of an analytic or “outside” viewpoint on his conduct: a lack of self-consciousness” (ibid, 46), and “a measure of control over the environment, a balanced state between chaotic worry and stultifying boredom” (ibid, 49).

Csíkszentmihályi is also the original author of the concept of flow experience as a key indicator of play. He describes it as an experience when “Attention is focused on a limited stimulus field. There is full concentration, complete involvement.” It is a state in which “Action and awareness merge.” (Csíkszentmihályi , 2007: 6) Furthermore, “There is freedom from worry about failure.” (ibid, 8) Other features of flow experience are the disappearance of self-consciousness and distortion of time. (ibid, 12) Such an experience is described as being auto-telic, meaning that “The experience becomes its own reward.” (ibid, 14) He explains the conditions which foster flow as being “clear goals every step of the way”, “immediate feedback to action”, and “a balance between challenges and skills.” As will be related below, games, in meeting these conditions exactly, are perfect environments for activating flow experience. From the perspective of L2 acquisition, can such flow conditions also be met in an Internet-mediated environment with regard to L2 use, and if so, how?

2.5 Play and Identity

Csíkszentmihályi and Bennet state “As long as a person is playing, his selfless attention to only “his” actions transcends his referential (i.e. social) identity, and the ability for further negotiating breaks down.” Csíkszentmihályi & Bennet, 1971: 56) If this is so, it has interesting implications for identity in the context of mediated L2 activity. Julie Beltz has written that identity “resonates with history, culture, biography, and institution and is often conceptualized in terms of typifications (e.g. the European, the Californian, the Midwesterner).” (Beltz, 2002: 18) First of all, in interactive Internet-mediated activity the individual, relying on (often ‘speech-like’) text communication (CMC), and devoid of any actual physical representation (an avatar or other such character does not have to reveal one’s actual physical characteristics), is able to shed any physical differences (such as race, gender or age) with his or her L2 interlocutors in his or her expression of identity. For the L2 native interlocutors, such a dualism should also break down, as “the traditional theoretical conflict between individual and society (or monism and dualism) is irrelevant for a man at play.” (Csíkszentmihályi & Bennet , 1971: 56). Furthermore, within the context of a (role-playing) game, the native L2 interlocutors no longer maintain the same degree of cultural authority in relation to the L2 itself, as the players are enmeshed in the culture of the game, to which the L2 now serves primarily as a means for coordinating activity inherent to the game rather than the L2 culture. For these reasons, it would appear that mediated L2 learning may help to leverage the non-native learner’s agency in ways that do not take place in physical reality.

2.6 A Framework for the Examination of L2 Learning

In his ‘Principles of Instructed Language Learning’ (2005) Rod Ellis presents ten principles, which, while devised for instructed learning, seem to be almost entirely devised from non-instructed learning, or natural acquisition. Leaving out “Instruction needs to ...”, his first three principles read: “1. ensure that learners develop both a rich repertoire of formulaic expressions and a rule-based competence”, “2. ensure that learners focus predominantly on meaning”, and “3. ensure that learners also focus on form.” (Ellis, 2005: 2-3) It would appear evident that any learner, instructed or not, if (physically or virtually) immersed in and motivated to learn an L2, would follow all three of these principles. Principle four mandates “developing implicit knowledge of the L2 while not neglecting explicit knowledge.” (ibid, 4) In natural, uninstructed L2 acquisition it would appear that implicit knowledge would naturally occur, while explicit knowledge would require either instruction or metacognitive analysis on the part of the learner. Principles five, six, seven and eight also reflect the type of non-instructed learning inherent in acquisition: “5. take into account the learner’s ‘built-in syllabus’”, “6. learning requires extensive L2 input”, “7. learning also requires opportunities for output”, and “8. The opportunity to interact in the L2 is central to developing L2 proficiency.” (ibid, 5-7) Principle nine, “take account of individual differences in learners” (ibid, 7), like principle five, would become a non-issuesin non-instructed learning. So too would principle ten: “examine free as well as controlled production” (ibid, 8).

While Ellis states his purpose in formulating these principles as meeting a need for “a set of generalisations that might serve as the basis for language teacher education” (ibid, 1), these ten principle may additionally, within the context of this review, serve as a framework by which to analyze learning experiences occurring in any mediated environment. For example, in this experience (e.g. blogging), am I: focusing predominantly on form or meaning? using formulaic expressions? exercising an opportunity for input, output or interaction? Indeed, any and all mediated L2 experiences could be analyzed through such a framework, possibly thus providing a more coherent and well-directed learning experience.

2.7 Games

‘Moving Learning Games Forward – Obstacles, Opportunities & Openness,’ (2009)by Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen also provides a succinct framework through which to examine the common features and varieties of both games in general and learning games in particular. In praise of the applicability of the characteristics of gamers to educational pursuit they state “game player’s [sic] regularly exhibit persistence, risk-taking, attention to detail and problem-solving skills, all behaviors that ideally would be regularly demonstrated in school.” (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009: 1) They begin by outlining two traditional approaches towards the creation of learning games, the first focusing on games, perhaps at the expense of education, the second focusing on education at the expense of the gaming experience. (ibid, 1-2) “Gaming is play across media, time, social spaces, and networks of meaning; it includes engagement with digital FAQs (or Frequently Asked Questions), paper game guides, parents and siblings, the history of games, other players, as well as the games themselves. It requires players to be fluent in a series of connected literacies that are multi-modal, performative, productive, and participatory in nature. It requires an attitude oriented toward risk-taking, meaning creation, non-linear navigation, problem-solving, an understanding of rule structures, and an acknowledgement of agency within that structure, to name but a few.” (ibid, 5) While this is an extremely broad definition, it places play at the center of the gaming experience, defining gaming not so much in relation to actual games, but rather in relation to an attitude of play across any mediated or non-mediated experiences.

By extension, there are a variety of game genres. These include: power games – including MMO role-playing games (MMORPGs) such as WoW, EverQuest and Halo; casual games – such as the card games ubiquitous to most computers and many cell phones; puzzle adventure games – such as Grim Fandango and Sam and Max, in which “players take the role of the protagonist in a story in which they interact with a variety of characters to solve mysteries and puzzles” (Purushtoma, Thorne & Wheatley, 2009: 26); simulation games – such as The Sims, in which “players are placed in charge of managing a complex system” (ibid); and social games – such as Facebook’s Farmville or online version of scrabble, Lexulous, both of which leverage the power of social networks and the aspect of interaction with friends and family. (McGonigal, 2011:81) Such an understanding of gaming habits and genres can serve to frame and direct game experiences. For example, having an understanding of game genres and play modes might direct an individual playing games in an L2 to begin with simulation and social games, which require only basic lexis, and then move on to power games and puzzle games, thus scaffolding their learning and setting appropriate gaming and learning goals.

‘The Sopranos Meets EverQuest – Social Networking in Massively Multiplayer Online Games’ (2003), by Mikael Jakobsson and T.L. Taylor, examines socialization patterns within one particular MMO role-playing game (MMORPG) titled EverQuest (EQ). Like most games in this genre, EQ relies on both formal and informal grouping in order for players to accomplish tasks. This is the primary mechanism by which MMORPGs become interactive and communicative, thereby potentially rich environments for L2 learning. Jakobsson and Taylor state: “By creating a group out of characters specializing in different but complementary skills, members can collectively take on and defeat opponents who are equal or even mightier than the individual characters in the group. It is only through working with other players that individual gamers achieve maximum results.” (Jakobsson & Taylor, 2003: 83) This happens both informally, and formally, through what are called guilds. The gist of their argument is that socialization within EQ appears to occur through many of the same patterns evident in Mafia culture, as based on a representation of such culture in the popular television program The Sopranos. They discuss not only “the implicit construction of social hierarchy” (ibid, 86), but also the implications of ‘real (offline) friend’ status within the game, the phenomenon of gamer groups migrating together from one MMO to another, the degree of time commitment which some guilds require of members, and the degree to which “physical or cultural proximity and previous shared gaming experiences” serve to connect players (ibid, 84). Jakobsson and Taylor conclude by giving credit to gamers themselves for managing and creating the large part played by social experience within the game: “While they are not the designers of EQ they can be seen as the creators of their gaming experience,” one in which all players act as “co-constructors of the game world that they, and future players, are part of.” (ibid, 89) Their work, while not related to L2 acquisition, serves to vividly illustrate the social structures of the MMORPG experience in a new context, one in which “friendships between the players could be considered to be the ultimate exploit of the game.” (ibid, 81) In doing so, they provide a greater appreciation for the high degree of socialization such games engender, as well as establishing the degree to which such games create experiential micro-universes, formed through and informed by player interaction.

In ‘Structuring Narrative in 3D Digital Game-Based Learning Environments to Support Second Language Acquisition’ (2010), David Neville examines L2 acquisition within MMORPGs (which he calls ‘3D Digital Game-Based Learning Environments,’ or 3D-DGBL) from the perspective of examining how narrative “serves as a vehicle for situating the self within a new community of practice.” (Neville, 2010: 452) Neville also comments on how MMORPG environments differ from virtual environments in that only the former support the emergence of distinct cultures and meaning, even narrative itself, which arise specifically from participant interaction. (ibid, 447) His stated purpose is twofold: firstly, to discuss the common characteristics of narrative as described from a number of theoretical perspectives (situated cognition, SLA and game studies) as “a means of developing meaningful, engaging, and instructional gameplay in 3D-DGBL environments”; secondly, to provide design suggestions for performance-based learning in such environments. (ibid)

Neville states at the outset that he uses “the term narrative broadly in the essay to describe the dialogue that emerges between a learner and a more capable peer, the sociocultural settings that contextualize language production and nuance its various manifestations, and the stories created by player interaction with a game.” (ibid) Of interest here are many possibilities hinted at, ones we have seen in other authors’ work. First is the phenomenon of mentoring; second, ‘sociocultural settings’ which may be, rather than language specific, specific to the culture of the game; and lastly, the fact that the story itself, or narrative, exists not so much in the game as in the interactions and individual character decisions which take place in its setting. With regard to this last point and its implications for L2 acquisition, the author remarks that “language acquisition is not only an intra-mental process, or one that occurs solely in the head of the language learner, but is also inter-mental in the sense that it is situated within communities that share and shape a common linguistic system.” (ibid, 452) In this regard, narrative is a shared process through which L2 acquisition takes place. Narrative, furthermore “serves as a vehicle for situating the self with a new community of practice, although it can also function in reverse as a means of making this community meaningful on a personal level.” (ibid) Neville mentions other game genres (such as ‘twitch,’ or first person shooter games), which do not afford such narrative experiences, and focuses on MMORPGs as platforms “designed to support narrative gestalt,” and which require negotiation of various emotional and thematic interactions, thereby serving as a basis for both transitory player identity formation and permanent learning. (ibid, 455-7)

In seeking to develop a “Design Rubric for Developing Performance Objectives in 3D-DGBL Environments” (464-5) the author discusses some of the features common to MMORPGs, such as ‘cutscenes,’ which include “noninteractive scripted sequences” in order to advance the story and move players up to a higher level, and serving as “a “loop” through which the various traces of player interactivity are threaded, lending an overall structure to the game experience.” (ibid, 459) He also provides illustrations of how MMORPGs offer players multiple pathways towards the solution of problems, based on players own personal personalities and styles. (ibid, 460-1) In discussing learning outcomes, he presents an interesting problem: “the conundrum persists: How does one design efficient and effective instruction in 3D-DGBL environments when everything is a potential learning situation, when it is impossible to predict which path the learner will take, and when every path is a valid course of study?” (ibid, 462) While the purposes of this review do not include the design of effective instruction in Internet-mediated environments such as MMORPGs (or 3D-DGBL environments), Neville’s rubric as presented on pages 464-5 includes a set of questions regarding resource objectives, behaviors, conditions, criteria, language, society, culture and connections, almost all of which can serve well to shape and refine any study of L2 acquisition experience within an MMORPG environment. The primary weakness of Neville’s study is that, while quite thorough from the perspective of narrative, it actually offers very little analysis of the mechanisms for L2 acquisition aside from the rather stand-alone rubric.

2.8 Games, Play and Positive Emotions

The first section of her book, “Why Games Make Us Happy” is very much rooted in the work of Csíkszentmihályi and other pioneers of positive psychology, as well as more recent studies in neurochemistry, and outlines traits and features of games in general and video games in particular. She discusses the ways in which games ‘provoke positive emotion’ through: the voluntary undertaking of satisfying work (McGonigal, 2011: 28); what she calls ‘fiero,’ meaning the emotional rush players experience when triumphing over adversity in games (ibid, 33); the way video games make “it possible to experience flow almost immediately” resulting in “a much faster cycle of learning and reward”(ibid, 41); and the ways in which they can foster social connection and meaning(ibid, 49). McGonigal refers to game designers as ‘happiness engineers,’ and in discussing the “rush of “interest” biochemicals also known as “internal opiates,”” states that while “few of us set out intentionally to trigger these systems,” (ibid, 48) good games, basically, are platforms designed specifically for this purpose:

She provides greater detail concerning all of these points. With regard to satisfying work, she states “Satisfying work always starts with two things: a clear goal and actionable next steps toward achieving that goal.” (ibid, 55, original author’s bold and italics) In discussing “fun failure” she states “the right kind of failure feedback is a reward. It makes us more engaged and more optimistic about our odds of success. Positive failure feedback reinforces our sense of control over the game’s outcome. And a feeling of control in a goal-oriented environment can create a powerful drive to succeed.” (ibid, 67) Effective failure feedback as McGonigal describes it is often amusing, creating a lighthearted feeling. Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen also discuss this aspect of game design, referring to it as a silly aesthetic: “This somewhat silly aesthetic invites play, and it has appealed to a large number of fans. Players can enjoy themselves casually without feeling pressure to perform perfectly in the game.” (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009:10)

In her discussion of the social aspects of games, McGonigal describes the two phenomena of “happy embarrassment” and “vicarious pride.” She illustrates the first of these concepts by discussing the ways players (and NPCs) may sometimes “trash talk” or tease each other, and discusses the psychological mechanism behind it as “a social vaccine”: “We mostly tease and let ourselves be teased because it feels good. But the reason why it feels good is that it builds trust and makes us more likable. Most of us might not realize exactly why it enhances our social connection, but we definitely feel the emotional net positive after a teasing.” (ibid, 85) “Vicarious pride” is the motion we feel when we have successfully mentored someone of lower ability level. While often not a designed feature of games, it has been frequently noted as a primary cultural aspect of many MMO gaming communities. It is also very much related to identity and the concept of role-play, or taking on the roles of expert and novice. Thus, both these phenomena can be recognized as elements of play. An additional social phenomenon she discusses is the degree of emotional investment, in the form of care and concern, people can develop for avatars or characters whose development they must nurture.

McGonigal further illustrates how MMO environments foster what she calls “ambient sociability” (ibid, 89) and provide meaning by allowing us “to connect our daily actions to something bigger than ourselves” (ibid, 97, original author’s italics) She describes two requirements for such “epic context” as, first, a shared game story which works as a “collective context for action,” and second, the player’s experience of personal action as a kind of service in which “every effort by one player must ultimately benefit all the other players.” (ibid, 101) By framing game experiences in such a manner it begins to become evident that video games are in so many senses not virtual experiences, as they have traditionally been viewed, but rather unique mediated worlds, very different in some ways, and in other ways not so different from classrooms or work environments, in which people work together for a collective good.

With regard to means of measuring progress, McGonigal discusses how “leveling up,” the standard game mechanism for entering more advanced levels of play, is, however, so fundamentally different from, and more motivating than the standard educational mechanism of tests and grades. And the continuous feedback gamers receive regarding their ability is far more immediate, instructive and motivating than any form of feedback found in traditional education. “Real-time data and quantitative benchmarks are the reason why gamers get consistently better at virtually any game they play: their performance is consistently measured and reflected back to them, with advancing progress bars, points, levels, and achievements.” (ibid, 157) In an MMO environment, synchronous CMC may provide similar “real time data” to the L2 player, as the effectiveness of their communication in the pursuit of a common game-related goal serves as a direct measure of their communicative competence.

2.9 Games and (L2) Learning

Thorn and Black (2007), in their review as introduced above, also address games. They begin with a brief discussion of Purushotma’s (2005) review of The Sims 2 as an L2 learning tool, which “found that the vocabulary and tasks the game comprises were highly aligned with the content of conventional foreign language course content,” and that “exposure to the target language is always linked to carrying out tasks and social actions, which concomitantly embeds vocabulary and grammatical constructions in rich associative contexts.” (Thorne & Black, 2007: 146) They also discuss MMORPGs, noting research that documents the development of “strong “projective” identities” (Gee), and the prevalence of game cultures which promote assistance through scaffolding to novice players. (ibid, 147) Like Purushotma, Thorne, and Wheatley, they mention the “overlapping use of multiple information and communication tools,” which they align with the concept of polyfocality. (ibid) Thorne & Black conclude by stating that further research is required in order to “help to highlight the evolving contours of possibility for language development in the transcultural spaces of noninstitutional online environments and associated cultures-of-use.” (ibid) It is interesting to note here their choice of the word development, which connotes the kind of non-intentionality we find in the term acquisition, as opposed to the intentional activities of teaching or learning. Such a study might take the form of a ‘play’-centered exploration, documenting emic perspectives on enjoyment, adventure, meaning and identity formation and the actual process of language acquisition through interactive and productive media usage across multiple Internet modalities.

In ‘Personalised Learning for Casual Games: The ‘Language Trap’ Online Language Learning Game’ (2010), authors Neil Peirce and Vincent Wade provide a case study detailing the mechanism of an online game for the learning of German, along with “results of an authentic evaluation of the Language Trap game” (Pierce & Wade, 2010: 306), and an explanation and demonstration of the efficacy of the ALIGN (Adaptive Learning In Games through Non-invasion) system. Beginning from an historical perspective, they, as do many other authors (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009; Purushotma, Thorne & Wheatley, 2012) bemoan early attempts at ‘edutainment’ games and their failure due to lack of integration of learning and gaming content, thus disrupting (or ‘invading’)the flow experience described by Csíkszentmihály, and move forward to state that successful learning games “must seamlessly integrate learning content to present a game that blurs the boundary between where the game stops and the learning content begins.” (Pierce & Wade, 2010: 307) They also mention that while “games can present many of the constituents of a flow experience such as clear goals, immediate feedback, task feasibility, and self-governance, the most important factor, that of balanced skills and challenges, is determined not only by the difficulty of the game but also by the player’s abilities.” (ibid, 308)

Overall, the significance of their study in relation to this literature review is in the emphasis of the importance of non-invasion of play experience in the learning and gaming process. The ALIGN system is described as a type of iCALL system providing dynamic assessment by continuously modeling the learner, providing motivation, guidance, and meta-cognitive feedback through a companion NPC (non-player character). (ibid, 310-12) Overall, reported student response and learning progression was “very positive” and, in line with Csíkszentmihály’s theory of flow in that “they didn’t recognise how time went by whilst playing” (ibid, 314)

In ‘Learning Conversations in World of Warcraft’ (2007), authors Bonnie A. Nardi, Stella Ly, and Justin Harris state that within the framework of the Vygotskian notion of zone of proximal development (ZPD), their goal is “to describe learning activity that is devoid of curriculum.” (Nardi, Ly & Harris, 2007: 1) Their paper describes ongoing ethnographic fieldwork comprised primarily of first-person game-playing, and examines “three kinds of learning: fact finding, devising tactics/strategy, and acquiring game ethos” (ibid) as occurs through in-game CMC (chat). Within the context of WoW, they describe chat as “a community resource for learning as well as enabling learning by those actually chatting.” (ibid, 2) Like natural L1 language acquisition, “In World of Warcraft, learning in conversation is event-driven with no planned curriculum. It is spontaneous, erratic, serendipitous, and contextual.” (ibid, 3) However, as with properly scaffolded learning “the situated curriculum comprises a sequence of tasks for students to complete with appropriate instruction.” (ibid) In commenting on a chat exchange in WoW, they state: “The information Drollnar [an in-game character name] received was tailored to his level of knowledge, it occurred in a social context, offered an action for him to take to further his own ends, and took meaning from the participation of other players.” (ibid, 4) While these descriptions occur with reference to fact-finding, they make similar observations with regard to the additional two types of learning mentioned. These descriptions are significant in that this type of scaffolded, highly contextualized, meaning-driven, action-oriented, and social interaction matches perfectly with the ideal learning situations described in the literature on L2 acquisition. One additional element the authors touch upon is the emotive quality of CMC exchanges. Here they suggest a need for further research into the impact of emotion on learning, stating “We believe it is likely that such emotion provides salience to the learned facts, heightens attention, and adds interest.” (ibid) Again, such an observation matches much of the literature on ideal conditions for L2 acquisition (Dörnyei, 2001), emphasizing the need for affective as well as cognitive engagement, in addition to the need for a relaxed, supportive learning environment. Such an understanding of emotions, from the perspective of this literature review, will ideally be related to formalized understanding of play as well as the triggers and features of peak emotional experience as described by McGonigal. Online gaming, or at least WoW, appears to provide many of the ideal conditions for learning as mentioned in the body of literature on L2 acquisition. While this is a valuable study offering many interesting observations for consideration, as its stated aim is to offer a sort of Vygotskian analysis, it would benefit from more focused, in-depth discussion of the reported situated learning from the Vygotskian perspective.

In ‘Learning by Design: Games as learning machines (2004), and ‘Good Video Games and Good Learning’ (2005), James Paul Gee outlines a number of “good learning principles, principles supported by current research in Cognitive Science” (Gee, 2005: 34) inherent in good video games. While there are a number of differences between the two articles, there is also a great deal of overlap. The 2004 article introduces thirteen principles, while the 2005 article outlines sixteen. Principles which overlap both include: identity (games provide gamers an identity in which they invest), production (or ‘codesign,’ by which players are not merely consumers but also producers or creators of the game), customization (gamers decide how they play, which meets not only differing playing but also learning styles), well-ordered problems (earlier problems scaffold knowledge required for later problems), challenge and consolidation (or ‘cycles of expertise,’ in which new information once learned is called for repeatedly in order to consolidate it), information just-in-time and on demand (new knowledge, especially text-heavy knowledge, appears only when it is needed or when the gamer asks for it), situated meanings (or ‘meaning as action image,’ i.e. meaning that is contextualized in the game), pleasantly frustrating (meaning that gamers are constantly challenged by tasks at the boundary of their ZPD), manipulation (or ‘smart tools and distributed knowledge,’ by which gamers can manipulate their environment, and by which individual gamers have differing knowledge) and system thinking (knowledge fits into an overarching system). The 2004 article also outlines what Gee calls “fishtanks”(20) and “sandboxes” (21), both referring to tutorial level activities or environments which allow novice gamers opportunities “to understand the game as a whole system” through a “stripped down version” ( 2004: 21) (the former), or a metaphorical “safe haven” (ibid) where learners can act without dire repercussions (the latter). The 2005 article adds a number of principles: interaction (by which players interact with the game, other players, and NPC), risk-taking (achieved through both” lowering the consequences of failure”(2005: 35) and allowing players to use previous failures as ways of gaining feedback and determining patterns (ibid)), agency ( a “real sense of ownership over what they are doing” (ibid, 36)), and exploration (a non-linear attitude to knowledge acquisition which encourages “players to explore thoroughly before moving on too fast, to think laterally and not just linearly” (ibid)). The value of these articles to this study is their ability not only to justify the learning potentials engendered by video games, but also to provide a framework through which to analyze in-game experiences.

Dionne Soares PhD. (Linguistics) dissertation, ‘Second Language Pragmatic Socialization in World of Warcraft’ (2010) is a tangentially relevant ethnographic study. [H10] The stated purpose of the author: “The overall goal of this dissertation is to explore the social environment of World of Warcraft as a venue for second language socialization, the process through which “persons become competent members of social groups” (Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986 : 167) by using language in ways deemed appropriate by the community. Specifically, this study examines how the learners became socialized to the pragmatic norms of a virtual community of Spanish speaking gamers in World of Warcraft.” (Soares, 2010: 2)

2.10 Conclusion

In summary, a number of major contributions to a better understanding of L2 learning within Internet-mediated environments have been presented here. Robert Blake, and also Lisa Kervin with Beverly Derewianka provide broad overview studies revealing the breadth of Internet-mediated experiences within which L2 learning can take place, particularly from the teacher’s perspective. Steven Thorne and Rebecca Black discuss the emergence of distinct communities and identities, as well as the importance of relationship development, through CMC enabled activities. Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen also discuss CMC technology in relation to L2 learning. In their broad study they additionally provide insight into social networks and virtual worlds, as well as offering very informative discussion on play, freedoms and games. Wagner and Ip discuss the use of the virtual world Second Life as a platform for ‘action learning.’ Csíkszentmihályi and Bennet add greatly to the discussion on play, touching on the relation between play and identity, as well as defining and outlining the experience of flow. Rod Ellis provides a set of language learning principles which can serve as a means by which to interpret L2 learning within mediated environments. Klopfer, Osterwell and Salen discuss different types of gamers, while Purushtoma, Thorne and Wheatley, along with Jane McGonigal, elaborate on different game genres. Jakobsson and Taylor examine the importance of socialization patterns in one MMORPG, EverQuest, and the means by which CMC enables this. David Neville examines L2 acquisition within MMORPGs through the vehicle of narrative. McGonigal discusses the mechanisms by which games create positive emotions. Peirce and Wade discuss the mechanisms for L2 learning in a specific game devised for the purpose, The ‘Language Trap,’ and highlight the importance of integrating learning in a non-intrusive manner in order to maintain flow. Nardi, Ly and Harris discuss the contextualized learning which takes place through CMC conversations in WoW as “learning activity that is devoid of curriculum.” (1) James Gee provides a compendium of mechanisms by which games engender learning. And finally, Dan Roy discusses his personal experiences using WoW as a platform for learning Spanish. Purushtoma, Thorne and Wheatley offer two additional articles which deserve review in this paper at a later point, as does Dianne Soares’ PhD. dissertation.

More specifically, in relation to this proposed study, this review identifies a number of frameworks that will be instrumental in framing both the collection and analysis of data. These include: Ellis’s ten principle of instructed learning, by which to analyze learning experiences occurring in any mediated environment; an understanding of game genres and play modes; Csíkszentmihályi and Bennet’s theories of play; McGonigal’s work, which provides a framework by which to examine not only aspects of play within a mediated L2 experience, but also to evaluate the emotional texture of various mediated experiences, and point towards their underlying reasons; and Gee’s work, which serves as a framework for examining learning mechanisms within game play.

Nonetheless, while all of these studies circle around and answer aspects of my original question, none of them get to the heart of the matter: From the emic perspective, in the process of non-instructed, Internet-mediated L2 activity, what activities best encapsulate the elements of both play and positive affect while leading to L2 acquisition? Some authors come closer to others in arriving at an emic perspective, but by and large the point of view taken is an etic one, one which looks at various mediated experiences with the learner in mind, but not from the perspective of an individual (not specifically a learner), immersed in various Internet-mediated L2 experiences. This is the primary weakness I have encountered in the literature in consideration of the question I am posing. Soares’ dissertation (2010) may come closest to the perspective I wish to discover. However, from the title of her dissertation it is clear that her focus is on socialization and pragmatics, while mine is concerned with the intersection of play, positive emotion and L2 acquisition.

3 Research Methodology[H11]

This research will use two research methods. The first is in the form of two online surveys (questionnaires), followed by interviews, providing both quantitative and qualitative data. The second is in the form of a participant-observer ethnography, providing rich and detailed qualitative data.

The primary purpose for undertaking two research methods is for triangulation of data, in the interest of improving both reliability and validity of any findings. Data from the two aspects of the research will be correlated both graphically, and in prose form, comparing and contrasting, and discussing similar themes between online L2 learning experiences, in English or Thai, thus using the different instruments for triangulation of data.

3.1 Part I - Population and Participants

The first portion of the research will have two participant pools, each with a minimum group size of 40. The first pool of participants will be English language learners, of varying nationalities, for whom English is a second language. They will range in age from early teens to sixties. Participants will be primarily self-chosen (volunteer) and obtained through convenience sampling. Contrary to the traditional view of convenience sampling, in which participants chosen are “the nearest individuals” (Nunan & Bailey, 2009: 128), convenience occurs through Internet-mediated proximity. The survey will be promulgated through my network of friends, former students, and former and current colleagues. As a result, I anticipate that the majority of participants will be located in Southeast Asia, primarily in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and China. However, it is possible that participants might be located anywhere in the world.

The second pool of participants will be Thai language learners, of varying nationalities, for whom Thai is a second language. They will range in age from twenties to sixties. These participants will also be primarily self-chosen (volunteer) and obtained through similar convenience sampling. The survey will be promulgated through former Thai language classmates, as well as the Thai language departments at both Payap University and A.U.A. (American Alumni Association, Chiang Mai). The survey may also, depending on availability, be promulgated through a Thai language learning online forum, such as www.womenlearningthai.com. As a result, I anticipate that the majority of participants will be located in Thailand. The salient characteristic of all participants, in addition to their being non-native speakers of either Thai or English, is that they will be Internet-users. This characteristic is assured through the nature of the research instrument – a survey which is only accessible online.

Participants will be selected for interviews based on a number of factors. From the first pool of volunteer participants (English language learners), I will make selection giving preference to those who indicate the greatest number of years learning English, the greatest number of hours spent in online English activity, and use of the greatest variety of Internet-mediated modalities. Additionally, those most forthcoming with detailed responses to open-ended questions will receive preference. The same set of factors will be applied to the second pool of volunteer participants (Thai language learners), reflecting Thai language activity respectively.

3.1.1 Part I - Research Instruments

               The research instruments for the first portion of the research are two highly similar

online surveys (questionnaires).  I initially created the survey for English language learners

based on a number of factors.  These include: theories and technologies presented in the

literature review, and personal experience as an Internet user, as a language learner, and as

a language teacher.  The survey for Thai language learners was then modeled on the first

survey for English language learners.  The working prototypes for these surveys are available

at http://www.esurveycreator.com/live.php?code=ec2baad[H12]  and

http://www.esurveycreator.com/live.php?code=b1d400c.

 s can be seen from the questions in the surveys, their purpose is to determine the various

ways in which users (learners) make use of different Internet-mediated activities in English

or Thai, respectively, and the degree to which they experience positive affect (“fun”) in

relation to those differing activities.  These surveys have been trialed for feedback with over

ten different people, including professional academics, students and teachers,  and have

been modified according to feedback.  Adding further to the reliability of the surveys, the

Internet based system hosting the surveys prevents any individual from taking any survey

more than once.  It also randomly shifts the order of multiple-choice answers in order to

counteract potential answer preference based on layout location.  These surveys will be

followed by a limited number (five) of online (CMC enabled) interviews with learners of

English regarding their English language Internet-mediated experiences, and by a limited

number (3 to 5) video recorded interviews with learners of Thai regarding their Thai language

Internet-mediated experiences.

3.2 Ethnography - Participant

In the ethnographic portion of the research, I will be both the sole participant and sole observer, that is to say, a participant-observer. As participant, I will conduct research (which is to say, engage in internet-mediated Thai language learning/usage activity) daily through the use of various internet platforms, both mobile device (Samsung galaxy Y) and computer. Presently, I predict that the platforms I will most frequently use will consist of sites designed specifically for language learning, such as thai-language.com (http://www.thai-language.com), google translate (http://translate.google.com), chat, as available through Facebook (http://www.facebook.com), MSN (www.hotmail.com), and camfrog (www.camfrog.com). As these platforms most suit my current learning level, I will most likely start out using such sites. However, as my ability increases, I may also include use of Facebook games, blogging (both for reading and writing), and possible MMORPGs (of which WoW is only one example). In order to maintain the greatest sense of agency and play, it is important that I not be prescriptive in regards to which variety of platforms I might use, but rather, pick and choose and naturally gravitate towards whichever seems to suit my language level and mood at any particular time. Nonetheless, I intend to keep a regular minimal level of daily activity of 3 (three) hours per day, five days per week (during the first two months, and of three days per week during the final month).

To provide some background on myself as participant, I consider myself to be multi-lingual, having learned and at certain points in my life spoken fluently a number of languages, including French, Mandarin, Japanese, and Indonesian. I learned all of these languages through instructed study, with the exception of Indonesian, which I seemed to ‘pick up’ (acquire) rather naturally, with very little self study, over a period of eleven years living in Bali. While I do not actively use any of the other languages at this point (although I rather passively watch a good deal of subtitled French TV and film), I continue to use Indonesian on a very regular (almost daily) basis through chatting and text messaging. Presently, I have lived in Thailand for one and a half years, and have had 180 hours of classroom instruction in Thai listening and speaking, and approximately 60 hours of classroom instruction in Thai reading and writing. Without hesitation I can say that I have found Thai to be by far the most difficult of any languages I have ever learned. As a result, my attitude towards the learning of Thai has not been as optimistic, or at times enthusiastic, as my learning of other languages has been. Socially, I have found friendship with non-English speaking Thais to be elusive, and so, although I live in Thailand, I have very few (2) friends with whom I speak in Thai on even as much as a weekly basis. While I have found it difficult to befriend Thais in person, I have found them more eager to (text) chat online, provided they can speak a bit of English, or I can type and read a bit of Thai.

3.2.1 Ethnography – Research Instruments

As a researcher I will track my activity through a number of instruments. First of all, I will keep a daily learning log, in which I will make daily notes focusing on my internet-mediated experience, particularly in relation to the elements of agency, positive affect and play, and, of course, any clear evidence of learning. I will also keep records (transcripts) of chat activity. At some point it is likely that I will start my own blog, and post blogs in Thai, an activity and instrument which will serve purposes of both participant and observer at the same time.

An additional element of instrumentation will be an entry and exit proficiency test of my Thai ability. While progress in my ability level should become evident through improvement in the quality of my chat dialogs and blog posts, in order to add greater validity and reliability to any assessment of my language ability, an additional instrument should be included. I will leave the form of such tests to my advisor, Ajarn Jenjit. It should be noted here that any such tests serve as an addendum, rather than as core instruments of my study, as the primary foci of my study are not actual progress in language ability, but rather on the technological platforms that make such progress possible, and the learner’s experiences of agency, positive affect, and play as generated through interaction with such platforms.

3.3 Procedure of Conducting the Study

3.3.1 Surveys and Interviews

The online survey portion of the research will be conducted during the month of August, to be followed by online and in-person interviews during the months of August and Septe[H13] mber. [For further details regarding promulgation of surveys and conducting interviews, please see section 3.1].

3.3.2 Ethnography

Upon approval of this proposal, I will begin the ethnographic portion of my study with an entry test assessing my Thai language proficiency (as mentioned above). Following this, I will engage in a prolonged period of Internet-mediated Thai learning and Thai usage activities. I add emphasis to usage (rather than learning) activities here, as an important element of my study regards the experience of learning as it takes place through usage, particularly in instances when the learner does not regard himself as being or feeling as a learner, but rather as a user of language. I will maintain a minimum activity period of three hours per day, with NO maximum – I might end up spending as much as 8 or 10 hours a day online, and interacting with and through language primarily in Thai, provided that what I am doing is motivating, and that I still take time to make observer notes. Soares, in her dissertation, notes several days where she spent up to 12 or 13 hours online and in game-play, without even noticing the passage of time. It is because I am intrigued by the possibility of such activity, and the language learning progress it might engender, that I set no upward limit for myself. I intend to maintain such activity five days per week during the month of August and three days per week during September 2012. During this period I will also be acting as observer, utilizing the instruments described in 2.9. Furthermore, during this time (and especially in the latter months of August and September), I will be processing data, as described in 2.9. [Check this number, it may change.] At the end of September I will undergo an exit proficiency test.

3.4 Data Analysis

Data from the surveys (questionnaire) will be both quantitative and qualitative. Data will be collected automatically through the system provided by esurveycreator (http://www.esurveycreator.com). Data will be analyzed in order to indicate frequency of responses general themes and trends. Response frequency will be presented in numeric and pictographic format, while themes and trends will be discussed qualitatively, in prose format.

Data from the interviews will be qualitative, and will be analyzed for themes, examining both similarities and differences with regards to learners’ subjective experiences both between individual learners and between the two groups of language learners with differing target L2s.

I will conduct data analysis of the participatory ethnography part by means of examining the results of all instruments (chat dialogs, learning logs, blog posts, and possibly others not yet predicted), and filtering them for various themes as well as outliers. In order to provide a framework and cohesion to analysis, I intend to utilize a number of frameworks already assembled by other authors. Notably, Reality is Broken (2011), by Jane McGonigal, provides a framework for examining the ways in which games (and by extension, a wider variety of Internet-mediated experiences) activate positive affect. I may also refer to J.P. Gee with regard to the mechanisms by which games (and by extension, a wider variety of Internet-mediated experiences) promote learning. Furthermore, many of the concepts regarding play as outlined in the literature review, notably the five freedoms (Klopfer, Osterwell & Salen, 2009), can serve as means of analyzing experiences recorded in regard to both agency and play. Finally, Rod Ellis’s ‘Principles of Instructed Language Learning’ (2005) can serve to analyse recorded experiences, particularly chat and blog activity, from a language learning perspective. Data will be presented in prose form, as is appropriate for ethnography.

Finally, data from the two survey pools (English language learners and Thai language learners) will be compared for any similarities and differences. To the degree that Internet experience patterns and themes are similar across the two groups, it may be concluded that the Internet-mediated L2 experience is similar regardless of the target L2. Additionally, Internet experience patterns and themes identified in the survey and interview data from the Thai language learners’ pool will be compared with the Internet experience patterns and themes I will have identified in ethnographic research section. By this means, I may establish the degree to which my personal Internet-mediated L2 experiences match those of other users. To the degree that similarities are found, I may conclude that my personal experience is representative of the Thai learner participant pool as a whole. Finally, to the degree that similarities are found across data from all three sources – English language learners (surveys and interviews), Thai language learners (surveys and interviews), and myself (ethnography) – I may conclude that the experience patterns and themes identified are transferable to Internet-mediated L2 usage in general, regardless of the target L2.

4. Duration/Timelines/Time of the Study Process

The duration of active research is a two month period comprising August and September 2012. Further compilation and analysis of data will take place during a two week period during the first two weeks of October 2012.

5. References

Beltz, J. (2002). ‘Second Language Play as a Representation of the Multicompetent Self in Foreign Language Study. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 1(1), 13-39.

Blake, R. (2011). ‘Current Trends in Online Language Learning.’ Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 31, 19 - 35.

Clemons, L. (2004). ‘Book Review: James Paul Gee, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy’. Intelligent Agent, 4.2.2 . Retrieved 11 March 2012, from

http://www.intelligentagent.com/archive/IA4_2reviewbookclemons.pdf.

Csíkszentmihályi, M. & Bennet, S. (1971) ‘An Exploratory Model of Play.’ American Anthropologist, New Series, 73 (1), 45-58. Retrieved 11 March 2012 from

http://yougenics.net/griffis/courses/arts344/readings/exploratoryPlay.pdf.

Csíkszentmihályi, M. (2007) ‘Flow and Education.’ PowerPoint presentation, Lawrenceville School, June 16^th, 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2012, from http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/csikszentmihalyipowerpoint.pdf.

Dornyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and researching motivation. City: Pearson.

Ellis, R. (2005). ‘Principles of Instructed Language Learning.’ Asian EFL Journal, September 05. Retrieved 10 March 2012 from http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/September _05_re.php .

Gee, J.P. (2005). ‘Good Video Games and Good Learning.’ Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 85(2).Retrieved 11 March 2012 from http://www.academiccolab.org/resources/documents/Good_Learning.pdf.

Gee, J.P. (2004). ‘ Learning by design: Games as learning machines.’ Interactive Educational Multimedia, 8 , 15-23. Retrieved 11 March 2012 from http://www.ub.edu/multimedia/iem/down/c8/Games_as_learning_machines.pdf.

Jakobsson, M. & Taylor, T.L. (2003). ‘The Sopranos Meets EverQuest – Social Networking in Massively Multiplayer Online Games.’ MelbourneDAC2003. Retrieved 10 March 2012 from http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au/dac/papers/Jakobsson.pdf.

Kervin, L. & Derewianka, B. (2011). ‘New technologies to support language learning.’ in Tomlinson, B. (Ed.) Materials Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Klopfer, E. Osterwell, S. & Salen, K. (2009). ‘Moving Learning Games Forward – Obstacles, Opportunities & Openness.’ M.I.T.: The Education Arcade. Retrieved March 1, 2012 from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.

Kukulska-Holme, A. (2009). ‘Will mobile learning change language learning?’ ReCALL 21(2): 157-165. UK: European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning. Retrieved Feb. 29, 2012 from ProQuest.

Lantolf, J. & M Poehner in Shohamy & Hornberger (Eds.) (2010). Encyclopedia of Language and Evaluation. New York: Springer.

McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is Broken – Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. New York: Penguin Group.

Nardi, B., Ly, S. & Harris, J. (2007). ‘Learning Conversations in World of Warcraft’ from, at the time forthcoming Proc. HICSS 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2012 from http://www.artifex.org/~bonnie/pdf/Nardi-HICSS.pdf.

Neville, D. (2010). ‘Structuring Narrative in 3D Digital Game-Based Learning Environments to Support Second Language Acquisition.’ Foreign Language Annals, 43, 3. Retrieved Feb. 29, 2012 from ProQuest.

Nunan, D. & Bailey, K. (2009). Exploring Second Language Classroom Research, A Comprehensive Guide. Boston: Heinle, Cengage Learning.

Peirce, N. & Wade, V. (2010). ‘Personalised Learning for Casual Games: The ‘Language Trap’ Online Language Learning Game.’ European Conference on Games Based Learning: 306-XII. Reading: Academic Conferences International Limited. Retrieved Feb. 29, 2012 from ProQuest.

Purushotma, R., Thorne, S. & Wheatley, J. (2009). ‘Language Learning with New Media and Video Games.’ Retrieved 10 March 2012 from http://www.lingualgamers.com/thesis/.

Purushotma, R., Thorne, S. & Wheatley, J. (2009). ’10 Key Principles for Designing Video Games for Foreign Language Learning’ Retrieved 10 March 2012 from http://lingualgames.wordpress.com/article/10-key-principles-for-designing-video-27mkxqba7b13d-2/ .

Roy, D. (2007). ‘Warcraft Teaches Spanish’ Blog. Retrieved 10 March 2012 from http://www.crossgamer.com/warcraft_teaches_spanish_1 .

Shirky, C. (2010). Cognitive Surplus – How Technology Makes Consumers into Collaborators. New York: Penguin Group.

Soares, D. (2010). ‘Second Language Pragmatic Socialization in World of Warcraft.’ PhD. dissertation in Linguistics, UC Davis. Retrieved 15 March 2012 from linguistics.ucdavis.edu/pics-and-pdfs/DISSERTATION%20Soares.pdf.

Thorne, S. & Black, R. (2007). ‘Language and Literacy Development in Computer-Mediated Contexts and Communities. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 27. Retrieved Feb. 29, 2012 from ProQuest.

Wagner ,C. & Ip, R. (2009). ‘Action Learning with Second Life – A Pilot Study.’ Journal of Information Systems Education 20.2. Retrieved Feb. 29, 2012 from ProQuest.

INTERNET BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING SURVEYS

2012-08-16T01:59:00.000-07:00

Dear blog readers - I have created the following surveys as a part of my thesis research. I would very much appreciate if you could take 10 minutes to take one of the surveys online. For current or former teachers, please help me by sending this link to your students as well. Thank you sincerely,

Christopher Stern

For those of you who are non-native English speakers, but enjoy using the Internet in English, for learning or otherwise:

INTERNET BASED ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING

For those of you who are non-native Thai speakers, but enjoy using the Internet in Thai, for learning or otherwise:

INTERNET BASED THAI LANGUAGE LEARNING

Classroom Inquiry – Bringing Positive Change to Our Classrooms

2012-08-08T21:52:00.002-07:00

Classroom Inquiry – Bringing Positive Change to Our Classrooms

Christopher Stern

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good teaching means knowing what you are doing. I think that is incontestable. And knowing what you are doing means knowing the basis upon which you are doing it. This requires an understanding of multiple factors, including teaching methodologies, classroom techniques and activities, teacher and learner beliefs and expectations, group dynamics and leadership styles, a teacher’s roles, learners’ differing styles and strategies, multiple aspects of communication, and the dynamics of motivation and consciousness. So knowing how to change one’s teaching for the better involves recognizing where one’s teaching is not effective because either a. one’s practice and one’s understanding, or bases, do not match up, or b. one’s theoretical standpoint is faulty. As Williams & Burden state, “If teacher improvement projects are ever to be successful, they should always begin with the question ‘How does this change relate to these teachers’ understandings of their work?’” ( 1997: 52) In this paper, I will attempt to address all of the abovementioned factors. But what is equally essential is an understanding of a practice for recognizing what is not effective, the roots of the problem, the array of possible changes one can make to improve the situation, and the means of evaluating the effectiveness of changes made. These are the means by which reflective teaching can bring positive change to the learning experience.

Classroom techniques & activities

Richards & Lockhart express that no matter what methodology a teacher chooses to use, there are a limited number of actual activities in which a teacher engages in class. These include: presentation, practice, memorization, comprehension, application, strategy, affective, feedback and assessment activities. ( 1994: 163-5) It is useful for a teacher to have an awareness of the variety of activities he or she, as well as learners, engage in during a class period, and over the course of numerous classes. This will help ensure that lessons contain sufficient variety of activity and interaction patterns, and address learner engagement in multiple cognitive as well as affective levels.

Beliefs

The types and balance of activities a teacher provides, among other elements, are likely to be influenced by the teacher’s beliefs about their teaching and what they feel is good for their students. However, learners may often have different ideas. “Differences between teachers’ and learners’ beliefs can sometimes lead to mismatch between their assumptions about what is useful to focus on in a language lesson.” (Richards & Lockhart, 1994: 53) For this reason it is important to be attuned to your students – not just to listen, but to give real attention to the way they experience different learning activities. This can be achieved through a number of ways. In my experience, I can usually gain an understanding of what my students value and enjoy in their learning experience by questioning them directly, asking them to discuss their values, needs, interests and expectations in small groups or as a class, through questionnaires, or simply by observing their affective engagement with an activity.

Richards & Lockhart also mention the element of the learner’s culture and its impact on attitudes towards both language learning in general, and the target language and its culture. (1994: 52) In this regard, having an awareness of the learners’ culture can be a double-edged sword. While a little understanding can often help to provide insight on learners’ behavior, it is important that a teacher’s familiarity with their students’ culture doesn’t lead to sloppy thinking given to generalizations and assumptions. Ideally, a teacher who is aware of his or her own beliefs, and responsive to his or her students’ beliefs, will be better able to match learners’ expectations, and to offer a convincing explanation and demonstration of the value of activities when they differ from what learners believe they need.

Groups & leadership

Each class, that is to say, each amalgamation of individual learners which come together as a class, engenders a new dynamic. In my experience, classes usually develop a sense of cohesion, and this can happen very quickly: new friendships are formed, people get to know and become comfortable and open with one another, and generally treat each other kindly and considerately. But there are some exceptions. Some classes simply never ‘gel’, or one or two learners have a hard time not feeling ‘sidelined’ by others. Dörnyei comments that “There are several factors that promote group cohesiveness ...and most of these can be consciously ‘manipulated’ to good effect.” Among these are: time together, group history and ‘legends’, interaction, cooperation, hardship, intergroup competition, and the “active presence of a leader” (2001: 122) The choice of what type of leader a teacher becomes must be made reflectively with regard to the dynamics of each particular class (Dörnyei & Murphey, 2003: 95) And, as the leader of the class, the teacher should be cognizant of his or her instrumental role in assuring that the class does ‘gel’, that learners understand and agree upon expectations for themselves and the teacher – best achieved through group construction, and that the class runs smoothly. Irvin Yalom (1995) has stated: “’Wittingly or unwittingly, the leader always shapes the norms of the group and must be aware of this function. The leader cannot not influence norms; virtually all of his or her early group behaviour is influential. Moreover, what one does not do is often as important as what one does do.’” (from Dörnyei & Murphey, 2003; 42) This is to say, the teacher leads by example. When a teacher has a clear understanding of these dynamics, as well as a tool kit of strategies to employ, the resulting classroom cohesion is palpable, and leads to a far more rewarding learning experience for all, one which is highly motivating and in which distractions such as the need for discipline hardly ever occur.

Salmon (1988) goes even further in her constructivist approach to teaching, saying: “we ourselves represent and even embody the curriculum. We convey not just what we know, but our position towards it, the personal ramifications and implications which it has for us.” (from Williams & Burden, 1997: 53) This comes through in our presentation, in our attitude towards the curriculum we present. And so, a teacher who strives to be truly authentic and effective must choose their teaching materials carefully, with the goal of always being able to present materials about which they are enthusiastic, whether this means throwing out, modifying or creating new material entirely. And when the teacher hasn’t the time for this, it is best to be honest about how one feels about the materials, because learners will know anyhow. A genuine approach not only towards learners, but also toward learning materials, displays a sense of integrity and congruence which undoubtedly impresses positively upon learners.

Congruence is one of the three qualities of an “effective facilitator” as mentioned by Rogers, the other two being empathy and acceptance. Empathy, as I understand it, is one’s ability to view one’s students as people, to be curious about and sensitive and respectful towards them. Acceptance is defined as “a non-judgemental, positive attitude.” (Dörnyei & Murphey, 2003: 93) These qualities relate to what Daniel Goleman has called “emotional intelligence.” While they might not be found in a job description, they cannot be written off as fluff. Teaching is not only a job in which one deals with people, such as service-industry jobs. It is a job in which one informs and forms people, and becoming emotionally intelligent is not just about becoming a better person, it is part of becoming a far more effective teacher.

Teachers’ roles

It seems natural that teachers will form their roles based on the type of school in which they teach, their methodology, personality and cultural background. (Richards & Lockhart, 1994: 98) This may occur without very much examination or introspection. What is more useful is have an understanding of the different types of roles teachers typically take on in the classroom. Richards & Lockhart summarize these as being : planner, manager, quality controller, group organizer, facilitator, motivator, empowerer and team member .(ibid, 105-6) The important point is that teachers decide their role through an informed rather than default choice process. In being able to do so, they may be able to better attune their activity towards the needs of their learners at any point in time.

Individual learners: strategies & styles

Individual learners will be interpreting each classroom experience differently, based on their personal background, learning styles and the strategies they can make use of. As astute teacher, aware of learner’s individual preferences, will be able to provide a more effective learning experience for each individual and for the class as a whole. Furthermore, with an understanding of specific learning and communication strategies, an informed teacher can coach learners in using strategies in relation to tasks in order to lead learners towards both greater success and autonomy. (Carter & Nunan, 2001: 171 and Oxford & Lee, in Cohen & Macaro, Eds., 2007: 136)

Motivation: competence and control

Motivation is a huge topic, and I can only touch briefly upon it here. In summary, there are a wide number of strategies a teacher can employ to motivate learners, some listed above in Dörnyei’s discussion on group formation. But the features mentioned most frequently as leading to motivation can be boiled down to competence and autonomy. (Williams & Burden, 1997: 50) Two peripheral factors which come into play are control (which can be subsumed by competence) and goal-directedness (which can be subsumed by autonomy – an autonomous learner has his or her own goals). (Carter & Nunan, 2001: 166) This is corroborated by work in other fields. Clay Shirky, in Cognitive Surplus, cites a study by a research psychologist, Edward Deci, in which he defines autonomy as “to determine what we do and how we do it” and competence as “to be good at what we do.” ( Shirky, 2010: 70-75). When a teacher can provide opportunities for his or her learner to exercise both competence and autonomy, by careful design and through scaffolding activity, the classroom becomes a thoroughly engaging environment in which learning really takes place.

Dörnyei adds a further dimension to the question of motivation in addressing ‘action’ versus ‘state’ orientation, or longitudinal motivation. These two orientations are antithetical psychological constructs in which the first helps, while the second hinders goal achievement. (Dörnyei, 2001: 44) These two different states and the continuum in between are often evident to a teacher, based on a learner’s behavior and the things he or she may say regarding their learning. If a teacher can be sensitive to these psychological constructs, helping a learner to ‘reframe’ their experience and develop a new experience of learning, it can be one of the most helpful things a teacher can do.

Multiple aspects of communication

Crookes summarizes the multiple aspects of a teacher’s communication as including: framing lessons, pacing, proxemics, non-verbal communication (voice tone, eye contact, body language), and teacher talk. (Crookes, 2003) He goes even further, to quote Hodge’s description of ‘teacherese’ (1993: 118) as a specific type of talk which draws learners in by making use of the components of theme and rheme. (from Crookes, 2003: 78) An astute teacher fashions communication thoughtfully, and by being thoughtful to the greatest degree, becomes communicative to the greatest degree. Having a solid awareness not only of language, but also of non-linguistic elements of communication, as well as the overall framework of communication (in a complete lesson or course) helps to clarify matters for students, as well as to heighten the experience of congruence required for peak understanding. Richards and Lockhart summarize this notion rather more simply: “The ability to monitor one’s own instruction and evaluate it in terms of its appropriateness within a specific and immediate context is central to interactive decision making.” (1994: 84)

Emotions are equally an aspect of communication. In speaking of the primacy of emotion, Young states “emotions can monopolize the brain’s system, or circuitry, to the extent that it can override conscious brain activity, or cognition.” (1999: 18) It is to the teacher’s benefit to be able to control and employ this feature in both themselves and in students for the benefit of learning. This is another aspect of emotional intelligence, which, if harnessed effectively, helps the teacher to create a supportive and motivating positive learning environment for learners.

Consciousness

Schmidt’s model of consciousness “posits that consciousness consists of four major parts: attention, awareness, control, and intention.” (Oxford & Lee, in Cohen & Macaro, Eds., 2007: 125) The practice, in every sense of the word ‘practice’, of all four of these components is crucially beneficial for our classroom experience. The first two involve one’s experience of the external impacting on the internal world. But the latter two involve projecting one’s internal experience outward. While all of these components are important, it is the last one, intention, which may be the most elusive, and which serves as the glue holding all the others together. I would even say that intention subsumes control. I have also said that competence subsumes control. Thus, intention and competence are inextricably entwined. Jane McGonigal, in her recent opus on games, Reality is Broken, speaks of shared intentionality. “Shared intentionality, according to Tomasello, is defined as “the ability to participate with others in collaborative activities with shared goals and intentions.” When we have shared intentionality, we actively identify as part of a group, we deliberately and explicitly agree on a goal, and we can understand what others expect us to do in order to work toward the goal.” (McGonigal, 2011:270)

From the perspective of an experienced stage hypnotist, intentionality is paramount. It is the utmost responsibility of the hypnotist, without which nothing happens. But it is also the responsibility of the audience to partake in a shared intention, under supervision or direction if you will. As a teacher, I feel there are many similarities in the classroom experience. It is during the times of genuine ‘flow’ in teaching that we as a class have a shared intentionality. And correspondingly we have a shared experience. I like to think that to some degree we even have shared brainwaves and perhaps shared thoughts. And it is primarily the position of the teacher to shape this experience. This is my interpretation of what Dörnyei refers to as “active presence of a leader.” (Dörnyei, 2001: 122)

Practice
This leads finally to the practice of reflective teaching. Freeman remarks “No amount of good procedure will compensate for being blinded by your own preconceptions.” (1998: 55) Thus, practicing reflective teaching means learning not only the dynamics of the teaching/learning process and awareness of learners’ classroom experience, but also how to be self-observant, including being observant of one’s own preconceptions. Bailey makes two statements, which at first glance, appear contradictory. The first: “Self-observation implies a professional curiosity – watching, listening, and thinking without necessarily judging.” (Bailey et.al., 2001: 27) And then: “reflective teaching goes beyond the level of acquiring new techniques....Such change demands that we look critically at ourselves” (Bailey et. al., 2001: 44) How can we not judge and simultaneously “look critically.” I think the best way to explain this dichotomy is by understanding the word “critically” not as it relates to criticism, but to critique. As teachers, we do ourselves the greatest favor when we treat our mistakes as errors to be examined, and treat errors as instances which can be remediated, without blame, just as we would treat a learner’s classroom mistakes or errors, not in a punitive manner, but as an opportunity for improvement.

There are many specific things to learn about the practice of reflective teaching, the first of which is self-monitoring: “Self-monitoring or self-observation refers to a systematic approach to the observation, evaluation, and management of one’s own behavior in order to achieve a better understanding and control over the behavior” (Richards & Farrell, 2005: 34) Techniques for self-monitoring include keeping a journal or a teaching log, as well as the use of surveys, questionnaires, recording, lesson reports, observation, and action research (Richards & Lockhart, 1994: 7-12) Through these methods a teacher can collect data about their teaching. However, as Freeman remarks, “it is important to go beyond the data themselves to the level of findings, to examine what you know, how you have come to know it, and why you believe it is so.” (Freeman, 1998: 118) There are two reasons for this: first, explicitness adds strength to an argument; secondly, it raises further questions, propelling further research. (ibid) These steps require a teacher to become familiar not only with what they do, but with the underlying reasons for doing so, what I referred to as their ‘basis’ at the beginning of this paper. In this way a teacher can determine the nature of a teaching problem: does it arise from the behavior only, or from faulty thinking on which the behavior was based?

But, just as Salmon presents a constructivist approach towards curriculum, Freeman presents a constructivist approach towards inquiry. He states: “Inquiries, regardless of their nature, do not spring out of thin air; they are rooted both directly and indirectly in who we are, what we believe, and the questions we are socially positioned to ask.” (Freeman, 1998: 54) So, inquiries are rooted in us. It would likely follow that analyses and solutions are rooted in us as well. But this is a tricky issue, as it would seem that the best solutions, the one’s that actually get at the heart of a rooted problem, must come from outside. Freeman remarks that “teacher-research may involve challenging what is “normal” or “usual” in the classroom or school in order to better understand or perhaps reshape it.” (Freeman, 1998: 59) This is well and very true, and returns to the point of experimentation. But to extrapolate, classroom inquiry, in identifying points of inquiry, analyses, and solutions, should challenge what is “normal” or “usual” not just for the classroom, but for the teacher, and for his or her way of thinking. This is where lies the value of extensive reading, time spent in discussion with colleagues, and time spent thinking.

Louden (1991) offers “the notion of teachers’ horizons of understanding which are constantly in the process of formation but which are constructed within traditions, larger frames of reference which provide shared ways of making sense.” (from Williams & Burden, 1997: 52) To sum up, through classroom inquiry, a teacher can be constantly expanding their ‘horizons of understanding.’ And in doing so, we, as individuals, are collectively expanding our traditions, creating a larger framework of references in which to improve our work, that work being our learners’ learning experience.

Your primary job in World of Warcraft is self-improvement – a kind of work that nearly all of us find naturally compelling. You have an avatar, and your job is to make that avatar better, stronger, and richer in as many different ways as possible: more experience, more abilities, stronger armor, more skills, more talent, and a bigger reputation.

Each of these improvable traits is displayed in your avatar profile, alongside a point value. You improve yourself by earning more points, which requires managing a constant work flow of quests, battles, and professional training. The more points you earn, the higher your level, and the higher your level, the more challenging work you unlock. This process is called “leveling up.” The more challenging the work, the more motivated you are to do it, and the more points you earn . . . It’s a virtuous circle of productivity. (McGonigal, 2011: 53)

May we all, continuously, level up.

References

¨ Bailey et al. (2001). Pursuing Professional Development: The Self as Source. Heinle & Heinle.

¨ Bailey & Nunan (Eds.) (1996). Voices from the Language Classroom. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Crookes, E. (2003). A Practicum in TESOL. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and Researching Motivation. Essex: Pearson.

¨ Dörnyei, Z. & T. Murphey (2003). Group Dynamics in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Freeman, D. (1998). Doing Teacher Research. Heinle & Heinle.

¨ Freeman, D. (1996). ‘Redefining the relationship between research and what teachers know. in Bailey & Nunan (Eds.) (1996). Voices from the Language Classroom. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Goleman, D. (2005). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.

¨ McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is Broken. New York: Penguin Group.

¨ Oxford, R.L. (2001). ‘Language learning strategies’ in Carter, R. & D. Nunan (Eds.) The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Oxford, R.L. & K.R. Lee (2007). ‘L2 grammar strategies: the Second Cinderella and beyond’ in Cohen, A.D. & E. Macaro (Eds.) Language Learner Strategies. Oxford: OUP.

¨ Richards & Farrell. (2005). Professional Development for Language Teachers. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Richards & Lockhart. (1994). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Shirkey, C. (2010). Cognitive Surplus. New York: Penguin Group.

¨ Williams, M. & R.L. Burden. (1997). Psychology for Language Teachers. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Young, D. (Ed.) (1999). Affect in Foreign Language and Second Language Learning. McGraw Hill.

A Communicative Text-Based Approach to the Teaching of Grammar

2012-07-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

A Communicative Text-Based Approach to the Teaching of Grammar

Christopher Stern

Introduction

This project is designed to illustrate a three hour lesson which could be taught at a Pre-Intermediate or lower Intermediate level. The learners could be of any age above fifteen years, as the text is potentially of general interest to learners of all ages. However, this lesson is probably not suitable for learners below fifteen years of age, on account of the degree of metalinguistic analysis and discussion possibly required.

Learners should previously have acquired a working knowledge of: definite and indefinite articles, prepositions, adjectives, adverbs and basic simple sentence construction. They should also have sufficient lexical resources so as to be able to comprehend 95 – 97% of the words in the text. This is important as some of the exercises require, and build upon this knowledge. Learners should also, ideally, have had at least minimal exposure to: all verb tenses and complex sentences. The primary focus of the lesson is the development of learners’ ability to formulate complex sentences (sentences with subordinate clauses introduced by relative pronouns). This ability is encouraged through the use of text, text reconstruction activities, and text construction activities. Activities will therefore include both a grammar and, to a lesser degree, discourse focus.

The presentation of this project is divided into five sections: introduction, lesson plan, rationale, conclusions and learner materials (found in Appendix A).

Lesson Plan

Stage	Procedure	Tasks	Interaction	Aims	Time	Cumulative
1	Show pictures	students discuss pictures in pairs or small groups	sts-sts	activating schemata, creating interest	5	5
2	Jigsaw reading – divide sts into 3 groups, #, * and ! and hand out reading	sts read silently then discuss within their groups	sts-sts	initial reading – introduction to the text	5	10
3	Group recount: T collects jigsaw reading strips, sts record recounts on hand phone or similar device	sts in groups of 3 (each group contains #, * and !) sts individually recount to partners what they read, decide the best paragraph order, think of an appropriate title for the text and decide possible source and intended audience	sts-sts	active use of new information (text-as-vehicle-of-information)	10	20
4	class discussion + opportunity to address any lexis / other issues	each group shares with the class their ideas on stage 3 tasks show 3 paragraphs on OHT	sts-T-sts	consolidation	20	40
5	writing a conclusion	groups of 3 work together to write a concluding paragraph	sts-sts	exercise students ability to draw inferences and conclusions	10	50
6	sharing	post concluding paragraphs on walls and allow all students to walk around and read	sts-sts	exposure to new language input and ideas. opportunity to get feedback	10	60
7	grammaring : provide sts with worksheet ‘Text Reconstruction (A)’	sts to complete worksheet with grammar words, then sts check with original group of 3 (*,# and !)	sts-sts	raise sts’ grammar awareness, push sts’ ZPD	15	75

Stage	Procedure	Tasks	Interaction	Aims	Time	Cumulative
8	class revision / discussion T introduces rules for use of relative pronouns: who, that, which, when, where	using (cloze) OHT, elicit and revise answers to worksheet, offering explanation or example as required	sts-T-sts T-sts	consolidation explicit product grammar teaching	20	95
9	relative pronouns focus (using ‘Text Reconstruction (A)’ worksheet) teacher then collects this worksheet	sts to underline or highlight each clause introduced by a relative pronoun. sts then check in pairs	sts-sts	awareness-raising	5	100
10	grammaring : provide sts with worksheet ‘Text Reconstruction (B)’	sts complete worksheet individually, then sts check with a partner and discuss	sts-sts	apply sts’ grammar awareness, push sts’ ZPD, particularly re. subordinate clause formation	20	130
11	class revision / discussion provide handout of complete reading, including title and conclusion	using OHT, elicit and revise answers to worksheet, offering explanation or example as required revise and discuss entire text	sts-T-sts	consolidation	20	150
12	listening	in original groups of 3, sts listen to recordings of their recount, noticing differences between their language and the text	sts-sts	noticing	10	160
13	jigsaw – repeat stages 2 and 3, except that students will read and recount a different paragraph than previously (recording optional)	in new groups of 3, students recount the paragraph they have read, without written prompts, focusing on producing complex sentences	sts-sts	process use of grammar	10	170
14	review provide students with whole text, including title and conclusion	elicit and board new knowledge discuss title and conclusion	sts-T-sts	consolidate learning	10	180

Rationale

Text Selection and modification:

I first wrote the selected text approximately 8 months ago, for my own enjoyment, to publish on www.infobarrel.com, a text-sharing website. I have selected it for this project for a number of reasons: authenticity, high interest level, relevance to most learners’ existing knowledge, and adaptability. Because of these qualities, it easily lends itself to effective learning activities. As O’Maggio has stated: “learning must be meaningful to be effective and permanent. For material to be meaningful, it must be clearly relatable to existing knowledge that the learner already possesses.” (Omaggio, 2001: 144) Animals are a topic of general interest, as are anthropomorphism and the paranormal. Because these topics are familiar, it is much more likely that the text will be more comprehensible to learners. (Omaggio, 2001: 155) The latter topic, furthermore, is controversial, and learners may have differing opinions they wish to share. Thus, the text lends itself for use as a “text-as-stimulus – that is, the text is used to introduce content into the classroom that learners can then respond to” (Thornbury, 2005: 113)

Because the original text (see Appendix B) contains a number of low-frequency words, and some sentences of unusual and potentially problematic syntax, I have modified it for classroom use. This is in line with Thornbury’s view that “for the purposes of skills development, genuine or ‘adapted-genuine’ texts are now favoured.” (Thornbury, 2005: 113) I began the simplifying process by “replacing low-frequency, specialized or idiomatic vocabulary …with high-frequency words” (Thornbury, 2005: 117). Because of the large number of complex sentences with subordinate clauses introduced by relative pronouns, I decided to make this a prominent feature of the text for classroom exploitation. Within the context of grammar, the specific focus is syntax: “[t]he question of how words can (or cannot) be combined in sentences” (Batstone, 1994: 3), as opposed to morphology.

The lesson plan

The lesson plan is largely a communicative teaching based plan, with the majority of interaction patterns being student – student. However, the position I have embraced here is the ‘weak’ version of CLT, which “stresses the importance of providing learners with opportunities to use their English for communicative purposes.” (Howatt, 1984: 297) The lesson plan is further informed by discourse analysis and text-based learning to the degree that it rejects (the strong version of CLT which proposes) the idea that adult learners can arrive at successful usage of complex grammar without having “a conscious understanding of the rules governing that language.” (Knight, 2001: 155)

Furthermore, I prefer not to determine this lesson’s overall approach to grammar as ‘product’ or ‘process’, as I feel this distinction, while potentially useful, is somewhat artificial. Calling the product perspective “a perspective on grammar which is static,” and the process perspective one “in which it [grammar] is deployed from moment to moment in communication” (Batstone, 1994:5), merely points towards the degree of fluency with which a learner can employ grammar. However, in considering grammar as “not simply a formal network, but a communicative device which is ‘functionally motivated,’” (Batstone, 1994:11), I have designed the sequencing of activities so that they move from an implicit to an explicit understanding of the formal network, and then towards functionally motivated deployment of that network.

Show pictures

students discuss pictures in pairs or small groups

sts-sts

activating schemata, creating interest

In stage 1 of the lesson, students view and discuss three pictures (see Appendix A for students’ materials). This achieves two purposes. First of all, it activates learners’ schemata, generating expectation and thus making comprehension easier. As O’Maggio states: “[t]he provision of additional contextual information in the form of a visual should make the comprehension task easier” (Omaggio, 2001: 150). Additionally, it serves to generate interest and anticipation. Stage 2 is a jigsaw reading activity. (*,# and ! are used both for novelty and to discourage any simple organizing strategy on the part of students). The reason for this information gap is in order to encourage communication, as well as the use of grammar. As Batstone notes: “we call on grammar to make our meanings clear, and the less knowledge is shared, the more likely it is that grammar will become a necessary resource for both parties.” (Batstone, 1994: 32) It should be noted that at least four relative pronouns in each of the three readings have been put in bold. Although no instructions are giving in relation to this, and no mention is made in the lesson plan, simply the fact of these words being in bold will cause students to notice on some level. “Two key stages in the learning process can be promoted through product teaching. One is noticing new language input” (Batstone, 1994:51). As students arrive at the text having viewed pictures and discussed them, “Comprehension, therefore, is not a matter of simply processing the words of the message, but involves fitting the meaning of the message to the schema that one has in mind.” (Omaggio, 2001: 148) Students are then given time to discuss, in each of their three groups, the text they have read. This is an opportunity for them to help each other adjust schema and address any possible misinterpretations (and possibly to discuss the significance of the words in bold).

2	Jigsaw reading – divide sts into 3 groups, #, * and ! and hand out reading	sts read silently then discuss within their groups	sts-sts	initial reading – introduction to the text	5	10
3	Group recount: T collects jigsaw reading strips, sts record recounts on hand phone or similar device	sts in groups of 3 (each group contains #, * and !) sts individually recount to partners what they read, decide the best paragraph order, think of an appropriate title for the text and decide possible source and intended audience	sts-sts	active use of new information (text-as-vehicle-of-information)	10	20

In stage 3, text strips are collected and students are instructed to reorganize themselves in new groups of three and recount what they have read in order to inform their group. These recounts are recorded for later use. Here, the text takes on the form of a TAVI, as the text becomes useful for the information in it. Thornbury states: “not only should learners be exposed to texts designed to display pre-selected language features, that is texts-as-linguistic-objects, or TALOs, but they should also learn to cope with texts-as-vehicles-of-information, or TAVIs.” (Thornbury, 2005: 121) Groups are additionally asked to decide the best paragraph order, think of an appropriate title for the text and decide possible source and intended audience. In their processing of the text, “three types of background knowledge are potentially activated: “(1) linguistic information …(2) knowledge of the world …(3) knowledge of discourse structure” (Omaggio, 2001: 145). These tasks serve to further activate and employ all three types of knowledge, hence their usefulness.

4	class discussion + opportunity to address any lexis / other issues	each group shares with the class their ideas on stage 3 tasks show 3 paragraphs on OHT	sts-T-sts	consolidation	20	40
5	writing a conclusion	groups of 3 work together to write a concluding paragraph	sts-sts	exercise students ability to draw inferences and conclusions	10	50
6	sharing	post concluding paragraphs on walls and allow all students to walk around and read	sts-sts	exposure to new language input and ideas. opportunity to get feedback	10	60
7	grammaring : provide sts with worksheet ‘Text Reconstruction (A)’	sts to complete worksheet with grammar words, then sts check with original group of 3 (*,# and !)	sts-sts	raise sts’ grammar awareness, push sts’ ZPD	15	75

Stage 4 allows learners an opportunity to share and consolidate their knowledge, and to deal with any issues of lexis. In stage 5, learners again draw on discourse knowledge in exercising their ability to draw inferences and conclusions. Both stages 3 and 5 make use of the text-based learning principle in which “learners are expected to become to some degree, language analysts” (Knight, 2001: 163) Stage 6, in which learners share their concluding paragraphs, allows learners exposure to new language input and ideas and opportunity to get feedback.

Stage 7, while still remaining communicative in that it encourages learners to check and discuss their work with each other, is much more text and grammar focus. This stage uses a cloze version of the text, requiring learners to reinsert most of the ‘grammar’ words (articles, some prepositions, infinitive ‘to’, adverb ‘as’, and relative pronouns). As stated in the introduction to this project, this exercise will be much facilitated, and bring greater focus to the function of relative pronouns, if learners already have some fluency in use of all the other grammar words. At first sight, this may seem an exceedingly difficult cloze exercise. However, it should be kept in mind that learners have already had a first exposure to at least a portion of this text. Furthermore, they are working in their groups of three, and so their efforts at inserting the grammar are aided by memory and cooperation. This cloze activity serves as a consciousness-raising activity, in which “…the discovery of regularities in the target language …will always be self-discovery” (Sharwood-Smith, 1988: 53), and provides implicit instruction in grammar. Furthermore, it meets all but one of Candlin’s (1987) features of good tasks – it encourages learners to focus on meaning, involves learners, challenges learners at the appropriate level, and raises learners’ awareness. (Batstone, 1994: 74)

In stage 8, class revision and discussion, both learners and teacher have an opportunity to assess learners’ understanding. At this point, the teacher explicitly introduces the use of relative pronouns. In this sense, the methodology here is clearly product grammar teaching, which “can help learners to structure their knowledge of the language system” (Batstone, 1994:51). This should not be discounted. “Research suggests that product teaching can promote quite rapid learning of explicit grammatical forms, and in so doing can contribute to a high level of ultimate achievement.” (Batstone, 1994: 71) This is also clearly a text-based approach, in that it is teacher and text centered, with “the role of the teacher as ‘expert’” (Knight, 2001: 163). It is at this stage that the teacher may wish to examine the text from a discursive approach. Of particular interest may be the way in which the author has occasionally used the relative pronoun ‘who’ with reference to animals. Learners may wonder if this is merely incorrect, or intentional, and if so, to what purpose the author has chosen this particular discourse feature. Also of importance here is the sequencing of paragraphs. Is it random, or does it follow a pattern, perhaps one of magnitude? What type of title and conclusion does it point towards?

8	class revision / discussion T introduces rules for use of relative pronouns: who, that, which, when, where	using (cloze) OHT, elicit and revise answers to worksheet, offering explanation or example as required	sts-T-sts T-sts	consolidation explicit product grammar teaching	20	95
9	relative pronouns focus (using ‘Text Reconstruction (A)’ worksheet) teacher then collects this worksheet	sts to underline or highlight each clause introduced by a relative pronoun. sts then check in pairs	sts-sts	awareness-raising	5	100

10	grammaring : provide sts with worksheet ‘Text Reconstruction (B)’	sts complete worksheet individually, then sts check with a partner and discuss	sts-sts	apply sts’ grammar awareness, push sts’ ZPD, particularly re. subordinate clause formation	20	130
11	class revision / discussion provide handout of complete reading, including title and conclusion	using OHT, elicit and revise answers to worksheet, offering explanation or example as required revise and discuss entire text	sts-T-sts	consolidation	20	150
12	listening	in original groups of 3, sts listen to recordings of their recount, noticing differences between their language and the text	sts-sts	noticing	10	160

After initiating and checking activity in stage 9 (again a consciousness-raising activity) the teacher may additionally wish to work through one or two of the reconstruction activities in stage 10 with the learners. Again, this model follows the text-based learning approach, where “teacher and learners jointly construct a text, followed by sole production by the learners.” (Knight, 2001: 163) Stage 11 is again a consolidation activity, where learners first check their ability with each other, and then as a class with the teacher.

Up to this point, learners have engaged in both noticing and controlled production of grammar. It should be noted at this point that use of the subordinate clause is primarily an aspect of written language, and only to a lesser degree an aspect of spoken discourse. Also, the use of subordinate clauses does not accomplish the conveyance of meaning which cannot be achieved with simple sentence structure. What it does accomplish is a level of cohesion and variety not found in an utterance or text comprising only simple sentences. In this sense, controlled production of complex sentences may be a goal in and of itself. Furthermore, information-gap activities do not in and of themselves require learners to produce complex sentences. It is in the interest of learning grammar in a process manner that learners are then encouraged to listen to their fist recount, noticing differences with the target text, and to repeat stages 2 and 3.

“Learning grammar means learning to deploy language flexibly, combining elements from grammar and lexis in productive ways.” (Batstone, 1994: 61) At this point, learners have been well prepared ‘to deploy language flexibly.’ Potential adjustment in the lesson plan may be in order here. For lower ability learners, the teacher may prefer that they use the same text as previously, focusing on fluent production of content while attending to correct production of complex speech. The teacher may additionally give them ample preparation time, as studies have shown that “giving learners planning time led them to produce language with a much wider range of vocabulary and more varied grammatical patterns than was the case when no planning time was permitted” (Batstone, 1994: 80), or ask them to speak on the same topic with a number of different partners. At this stage, the achievable goal is that learners “deploy grammar while for the most part concentrating their attention on meaning.” (Batstone, 1994: 51) For more advanced learners, the teacher may prefer to introduce a new text device. Ideally, the teacher may have prepared two texts similar to that in Appendix C (Thornbury, 2005: 169), (but of greater relevance to contemporary learners), asking learners to work in pairs, using the text as a prompt, with, or without preparation time.

13	jigsaw – repeat stages 2 and 3, except that students will read and recount a different paragraph than previously (recording optional)	in new groups of 3, students recount the paragraph they have read, without written prompts, focusing on producing complex sentences	sts-sts	process use of grammar	10	170
14	review provide students with whole text, including title and conclusion	elicit and board new knowledge discuss title and conclusion	sts-T-sts	consolidate learning	10	180

The final stage of the lesson is primarily revision of what has been learned during the lesson. It is also at this point that the students are finally exposed to the whole text, including the title and conclusion. This is an opportunity for students to evaluate the text in its complete form. There may be amusement at the title, surprise at the conclusion; there may be overall incredulity, or perhaps discussion of the sad end to the tale of Lucy the chimp, or of Paul the octopus’s astounding predictions of World Cup finals games.

Conclusion

This project has embraced a number of methodologies in its conception. While primarily a communication-based approach, as evidenced by the interaction patterns seen throughout, it is also clearly text-based lesson, which sees the occurrence of language “as whole texts which are embedded in the social contexts in which they are used,” and also demonstrates that learners can “learn language through working with whole texts.” (Feez, 1998) The focus on grammar is facilitated by a text and topic which will be relatively familiar to students. As Batstone has stated: “Another way in which familiarity can be exploited is through giving learners topics for discussion which they are already familiar with so that …[they can better] attend to the quality of their own and each other’s language.” (Batstone, 1994: 86) The lesson plan also embraces both a product and process approach to grammar, moving from the former towards the latter, concluding with “tasks which learners can use to express themselves more effectively as discourse participants.” (Batstone, 1994: 74) To paraphrase Willis, the lesson embodies successful grammar instruction, which requires: 1. exposure to language, 2. opportunities for language use, 3. a focus on language, and 4. activation of learners’ motivation. (Willis, 1996: 59)

References

¨ Batstone, R. (1994). Grammar. Oxford: OUP.

¨ Candlin, C.N. (1987). ‘Towards task-based learning.’ In Cadlin and Murphy (Eds.) Language Learning Tasks. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

¨ Ellis, Rod. 2006 (March). ‘Current Issues in the Teaching of Grammar: An SLA Perspective.’ TESOL Quarterly 40/1: 83 – 107.

¨ Feez, S. (1998). Text-based Syllabus Design. Sydney: NCELTR, Macquarie University.

¨ Howatt, A.P.R. (1984). A History of English Language Teaching. Oxford: OUP.

¨ Knight, P. (2001). ‘The Development of EFL Methodology.’ In Candlin, C. and N. Mercer (Eds.) English Language Teaching in Its Social Context. London: Routledge.

¨ O’Maggio Hadley, A. (2001). Teaching Language In Context, 3^rd Ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

¨ Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan Education.

¨ Sharwood-Smith, M. (1988). ‘Consciousness-raising and the second language learner.’ In Rutherford and Sharwood-Smith (Eds.) Grammar and Second Language Teaching: A Book of Readings. Rowley, Mass: Newbury House.

¨ Thornbury, S. (2005). Beyond The Sentence. Oxford: Macmillan.

¨Thornbury, S. (2002?). Uncovering Grammar. Oxford: Macmillan.

¨ Willis, Jane. (1996). ‘A flexible framework for task-based learning.’ In Willis, J. and D. Willis (Eds.) Challenge and Change in Language Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan-Heinemann.

Appendix A

Amazing Thing Animals Can Do (full simplified text)

Just outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand, there is an elephant camp where you can see elephants play soccer and paint realistic paintings. The elephants’ paintings, which you can buy, display variety and artistic spirit, and clearly represent the objects painted. On the internet, there is a website where you can find information about a cat that takes photographs. Search on youtube, and you can find numerous videos of cats that play their own musical compositions on the piano. There are also cats that know how to use the toilet, wash their paws afterwards, and ring a small bell to request a flush.

Lucy the chimp (1964–1987), was one of the most interesting of this planet’s talented animals. She was owned by the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma, and she was raised by her adoptive parents, the Temerlins, as a human child. Lucy learned to dress herself, liked to look at magazines, had her own pet cat, and sat at the dinner table and ate her meals with silverware. She also liked to drink straight gin occasionally. She learned American Sign Language, and had a vocabulary of over 140 words, which she even used in order to lie. She had a chimp boyfriend, who frightened her at first, but eventually, as he visited more regularly, she got used to him. When he arrived, Lucy always hugged him. Then she went to the kitchen, where she boiled water and made tea, which she served him. However, Lucy never fell in love. For excitement, she preferred Playgirl magazine and a vacuum cleaner.

Rupert Sheldrake, a British biochemist and author, wrote a book called Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home (1999), about scientific experiments illustrating various psychic abilities of animals. There are of course dogs that know when their owners are coming home, who go to the front door or front gate of the home to begin waiting at the exact moment their owners begin to think about going home. There are numerous stories of animals that sensed their owner’s lives were in danger. There are anecdotes describing animals who predicted disasters, such as earthquakes. And most remarkable is the story of the African grey parrot with telepathic powers. This parrot not only announced the names of callers before calls were answered, it could also describe photographs shown to its owner, in real time, as she viewed them in a separate room. Even more amazingly, this parrot gave detailed accounts of dream scenes which its owner had experienced the previous night and had recorded in a journal.

It’s quite curious to think that we still regard ourselves as the most intelligent species on the planet, as we ‘progress’ recklessly towards its destruction.

(Appendix A1)

(Appendix A2)

Jigsaw Reading

Just outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand, there is an elephant camp where you can see elephants play soccer and paint realistic paintings. The elephants’ paintings, which you can buy, display variety and artistic spirit, and clearly represent the objects painted. On the internet, there is a website where you can find information about a cat that takes photographs. Search on youtube, and you can find numerous videos of cats that play their own musical compositions on the piano. There are also cats that know how to use the toilet, wash their paws afterwards, and ring a small bell to request a flush.

Lucy the chimp (1964–1987), was one of the most interesting of this planet’s talented animals. She was owned by the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma, and she was raised by her adoptive parents, the Temerlins, as a human child. Lucy learned to dress herself, liked to look at magazines, had her own pet cat, and sat at the dinner table and ate her meals with silverware. She also liked to drink straight gin occasionally. She learned American Sign Language, and had a vocabulary of over 140 words, which she even used in order to lie. She had a chimp boyfriend, who frightened her at first, but eventually, as he visited more regularly, she got used to him. When he arrived, Lucy always hugged him. Then she went to the kitchen, where she boiled water and made tea, which she served him. However, Lucy never fell in love. For excitement, she preferred Playgirl magazine and a vacuum cleaner.

Rupert Sheldrake, a British biochemist and author, wrote a book called Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home (1999), about scientific experiments illustrating various psychic abilities of animals. There are of course dogs that know when their owners are coming home, who go to the front door or front gate of the home to begin waiting at the exact moment their owners begin to think about going home. There are numerous stories of animals that sensed their owner’s lives were in danger. There are anecdotes describing animals who predicted disasters, such as earthquakes. And most remarkable is the story of the African grey parrot with telepathic powers. This parrot not only announced the names of callers before calls were answered, it could also describe photographs shown to its owner, in real time, as she viewed them in a separate room. Even more amazingly, this parrot gave detailed accounts of dream scenes which its owner had experienced the previous night and had recorded in a journal.

(Appendix A3)

Jigsaw Reading

Title______________________________________________

Paragraph Order

1.______

2.______

3.______

Conclusion

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Possible source _______________________________

Intended readers _______________________________

(Appendix A4)

Text Reconstruction (A)

The words in italics below each paragraph have been removed from the text. Put them back in the correct place. Then check your work with a partner to see if you have the same ideas.

Just outside _______ Chiang Mai, Thailand, there is an elephant camp _______ you can see elephants play soccer _______ paint realistic paintings. _______ elephants’ paintings, _______ you can buy, display variety _______ artistic spirit, _______ clearly represent _______ objects painted. On _______ internet, there is _______ website where you can find information about a cat _______ takes photographs. Search on youtube, _______ you can find numerous videos _______ cats _______ play their own musical compositions on _______ piano. There are also cats _______ know how _______ use _______ toilet, wash their paws afterwards, _______ ring _______ small bell _______ request a flush.

which the and the of and a that a that The that where and of and the to the and to

Lucy _______ chimp (1964–1987), was one _______ _______ most interesting _______ this planet’s talented animals. She was owned by _______ Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma, _______ she was raised by her adoptive parents, _______ Temerlins, _______ _______ human child. Lucy learned _______ dress herself, liked _______ look at magazines, had her own pet cat, _______ sat at _______ dinner table _______ ate her meals with silverware. She also liked _______ drink straight gin occasionally. She learned American Sign Language, _______ had a vocabulary of over 140 words, _______ she even used in order _______ lie. She had _______ chimp boyfriend, _______ frightened her at first, but eventually, _______ he visited more regularly, she got used to him. When he arrived, Lucy always hugged him. Then she went to the kitchen, _______ she boiled water _______ made tea, _______ she served him. However, Lucy never fell in love. For excitement, she preferred Playgirl magazine and _______ vacuum cleaner.

the of which the which and to the where to a to of and who the and as to the a and as and a

Rupert Sheldrake, _______ British biochemist _______ author, wrote _______ book called Dogs _______ Know When Their Owners are Coming Home (1999), about scientific experiments illustrating various psychic abilities _______ animals. There are of course dogs _______ know when their owners are coming home, _______ go _______ _______ front door or front gate of _______ home _______ begin waiting at _______ exact moment their owners begin _______ think about going home. There are numerous stories _______ animals _______ sensed their owner’s lives were in danger. There are anecdotes describing animals _______ predicted disasters, such _______ earthquakes. _______ most remarkable is _______ story _______ _______ African grey parrot with telepathic powers. This parrot not only announced _______ names _______ callers before calls were answered, it could also describe photographs shown to its owner, in real time, _______ she viewed them in _______ separate room. Even more amazingly, this parrot gave detailed accounts _______ dream scenes _______ its owner had experienced _______ previous night and had recorded in _______ journal.

and to as that a who of to And a the that the as of of That the a of who the to the of which the a of the

(Appendix A5)

Text Reconstruction (B)

Join the sentences below, using the word/s in parentheses, to make a single sentence. Note: you will have to remove some words or move them to a different place in each sentence. You will also need to change punctuation.

1. Just outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand, there is an elephant camp. There you can see elephants play soccer and paint realistic paintings. (where)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. The elephants’ paintings display variety and artistic spirit, and clearly represent the objects painted. You can buy the paintings. (which)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. On the internet there is a website. You can find information about a cat that takes photographs there. (where)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Search on youtube, and you can find numerous videos of cats. The cats play their own musical compositions on the piano. (that)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Lucy learned to dress herself. She liked to look at magazines. She had her own pet cat. She sat at the dinner table and ate her meals with silverware. (and)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. She learned American Sign Language, and had a vocabulary of over 140 words. She even used sign language in order to lie. (which)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Appendix A6)

7. She had a chimp boyfriend. He frightened her at first, but eventually, as he visited more regularly, she got used to him. (who)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Then she went to the kitchen. There she boiled water and made tea. She served him the tea. (where, which)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. There are of course dogs. They know when their owners are coming home. They go to the front door or front gate of the home to begin waiting at the exact moment their owners begin to think about going home. (that, who)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. There are numerous stories of animals. The animals sensed their owner’s lives were in danger. (that)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. There are anecdotes describing animals. The animals predicted disasters, such as earthquakes. (who)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12. Even more amazingly, this parrot gave detailed accounts of dream scenes. Its owner had experienced those scenes the previous night and had recorded in a journal. (which)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Appendix A7)

Appendix B

Amazing Thing Animals Can Do (full unsimplified text)

Four years ago I came to Chiang Mai and went to see elephants paint realist paintings and play soccer. The elephants’ paintings were varied, recognizable as distinct objects, and rather artistic. Today on MSN I see information about a cat who takes photographs. Search on U tube and you can find numerous videos of cats playing their own musical compositions on the piano. I have a friend in California who has taught her cats to use the toilet, wash their paws afterwards, and ring a small bell to request a flush.

Lucy the chimp (1964–1987), was one of the most interesting of this planet’s talented animals. Owned by the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma, she was raised by her adoptive parents, the Temerlins, as a human child, and learned to dress herself, browse through magazines, raise her own pet cat, and to sit at the dinner table and eat her meals with silverware. She was also known to guzzle straight gin on occasion. She learned American sign language, mastering a vocabulary of over 140 words, which she even used in order to lie. When she was eventually courted by a male chimp, she was at first frightened, but eventually, as his visits became routine, she would, upon his arrival, hug him and then proceed to boil water and to make and serve tea. However, Lucy never did warm to him, preferring Playgirl magazine and a vacuum cleaner for excitement.

Rupert Sheldrake, a British biochemist and author, has detailed in his book Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home (1999), scientific experiments illustrating various psychic abilities of animals. There are the predictable dogs that know when their owners are coming home, who go to the front door or front gate of the residence to begin waiting at the exact time the owners merely form the intention to return home. There are numerous stories of animals that sensed their owner’s lives being endangered. There are anecdotes describing how animals have predicted calamitous events, such as earthquakes. And most remarkable is the story of the African grey parrot with telepathic powers. This parrot not only announced the names of callers before calls were answered, it could also describe photographs being shown to its owner, in real time, as she viewed them in a separate room. Even more amazingly, this parrot gave detailed accounts of dream scenes which its owner had experienced the previous night and had recorded in a journal.

It’s quite curious to think that we still regard ourselves as the most intelligent species on the planet, as we hurl ourselves headlong towards its destruction.

Sources:

¨ Bing (http://www.bing.com)

¨ Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org)

¨ Rupert Sheldrake (http://www.sheldrake.org/homepage.html)

Having a Go at the Teaching of Reading

2012-07-12T22:31:00.002-07:00

Having a Go at the Teaching of Reading

Christopher Stern

This paper illustrates the possibility of using a carefully selected text in the classroom in order to generate interest, to develop students’ reading skills, and as a resource for both language input and communicative activities. It will be organized in three parts: the reading lesson, discussion, and summary.

I. The Reading Lesson

Student profile:

The following reading lesson is intended for intermediate or upper-intermediate level students. While it could be taught in a general English program, ideally it is intended for ESP students – doctors, nurses, or medical faculty lecturers. This lesson is designed for a 90 minute class period, but could be easily expanded for a two hour lesson.

(Text is available in Appendix A, students’ activities in Appendix B)

Pre-reading activities:

Discuss with a partner or in small groups

1. What do you know about plastic surgery? Do you know, or know of anyone who has had plastic surgery? What are some common operations? What are potential problems? In what situations do you think plastic surgery is appropriate or inappropriate? Are there any regulations regarding plastic surgery in your country?

2. What does it mean to ‘have a go’? Is there anything you would like to ‘have a go’ at?

Learning objectives: activating schemata, creating interest in the text.

Teacher’s note: Board the structure of the lesson and outline it briefly so that students will have an idea of the shape of the lesson. Introduce the topics, but allow the conversations to belong to the students. Now is the time to listen to students to assess their knowledge. If no students have a correct understanding of ‘have a go,’ try demonstrating its usage in a few contexts to allow students to get the meaning, as this is a rather crucial phrase for understanding the text.

Time: 5 minutes. 5 minutes

Reading activities:

First reading: The title of the text is ‘Cosmetic surgery industry in UK has key weaknesses.'

1. Make some predictions regarding possible ‘ key weaknesses.’ Then read (skim) the text quickly (2 minutes). Do you think Britain is a good place to have plastic surgery? Why or why not?

Learning objective: skimming.

Teacher’s note: Hand out reading face down. Board the title of the text and direct students’ attention to it. Direct students’ attention to question 1 and let them know you will allow only two minutes for reading. Enforce 2 minute time limit for the reading.

Time: 4 minutes 9 minutes

2. Discuss your opinion with your partner / group: do you have the same ideas?

Learning objective: joint interpretation of text.

Teacher’s note: Again, allow this discussion to belong to students. Then sum up by asking students if they were able to read every word in two minutes. Did they need to? What kind of generalizations were they able to make from 2 minutes reading?

Time: 6 minutes 15 minutes

Second reading:

Read the text again.

1. What types of plastic surgery operations are mentioned in the text?

2. What ‘key weaknesses’ are mentioned?

Learning objective: intensive reading and scanning.

Teacher’s note: Allow roughly 10 minutes for this reading. Encourage students individually to make notes or underline to answer the questions.

Time: 10 minutes 25 minutes

3. Check with your partner / group: do you have the same ideas?

Learning objective: joint interpretation of text.

Teacher’s note: Allow groups a few minutes to discuss their ideas, and then follow with class feedback.

Time: 15 minutes 40 minutes

Post reading activities:

1. Look through the text carefully and find words or phrases in italics. Using the context (surrounding words), make a guess at their meaning. You may write down two or more possible meanings if you wish. Compare your ideas with your partner / group. Which meanings seem to make the most sense?

Learning objective: guessing meaning for context, and joint interpretation of text.

Teacher’s note: Allow students control of this activity, while circulating to provide hints where needed. Sum up with class discussion to ascertain students’ strategies in guessing word meanings, pointing towards strategy improvement and correct interpretation.

Time: 15 minutes 55 minutes

2. Discussion: Would you ever consider having plastic surgery? Do you think it would be preferable to have it done in Britain, or in your own country? Why? Do you have any ideas on how the situation presented could be improved? What do you think attitudes towards plastic surgery are like in Britain? Are attitudes towards plastic surgery in your country different, or similar?

Learning objective: review and discussion of newly gained knowledge, problem solving.

Teacher’s note: Again, allow this discussion to belong to students. Allow students to make summary comments in class discussion.

Time: 15 minutes 70 minutes

3. Role-play: In groups of two or three prepare and enact the following role-play:

A - You are a teenager, 17, nearly 18 years old, and have been saving up secretly to have a plastic surgery operation. You are convinced it will change the quality of your life for the better, and now is the time for you to discuss this with your parent/s, as you want to convince them of your reasons and gain their approval.

B (and C) - You are the parent/s of A. Try to convince your child of the reasons NOT to have plastic surgery. First, as a group, decide who will take each role, and what kind of plastic surgery operation A will aim to have. Then, each student should spend five minutes preparing their position and reasons. Rehearse the role-play and perform for the class.

Learning objective: extrapolation and application of newly gained knowledge through communicative negotiation.

Teachers’ note: Depending on class size, this activity may require more than 20 minutes. Circulate, guiding students where needed. If time permits, summarize the lesson, eliciting from students the key points regarding strategies, knowledge and language content.

Time: 20 minutes 90 minutes

II. Discussion of the Reading Lesson – Text, Tasks, and Methodological Considerations

Text:

I first chose this text about two years ago for use with a class of medical faculty lecturers and professors at Udayana University in Denpasar, Bali, in order to focus specifically on word formation. I have selected it again for this exercise for a number of reasons: high interest level, appropriate difficulty level for intermediate or advanced students, manageable length, and its ability to lend itself to the development of reading skills, language input and discussion. Additionally, the text meets all the requirements of authenticity. Not only does it come from an authentic news source (BBC online), but it also exhibits “the characteristics of true discourse: having something to say, being coherent and clearly organized.” (Nuttall, 1996: 177) Initially I had formatted the text in a single column, 12 point Arial font, 1.5 spacing, for greater ease of readability and line referencing. However, in the interest of making it appear more authentic, I have reformatted it in a standard newspaper style, with three columns and a Times New Roman font. As Nuttall comments “The intention of this ‘authentic’ presentation is to make the function of the text clearer by establishing a context in which it might appear.” (Nuttall, 1996: 178) In regards to language development, this text especially lends itself to developing students’ ability to guess meanings from context, as there is sufficient repetition and embedded meaning to allow students to glean meanings of both individual items of vocabulary and collocations. Finally, in line with Nuttall’s three criteria in choosing texts – “suitability of content, exploitability, [and] readability” (Nuttall, 1996: 170), this text is of intrinsic interest to students, especially but not solely ESL (medical field) students, as plastic surgery is a sometimes controversial subject, both available and within the scope of students’ consideration in perhaps every modern society. Furthermore, the text provides new information which may be somewhat shocking, and will certainly require consideration and generate discussion.

In Teaching Reading Strategies to ELLs (Farrell, 2009: 34), it is noted that

According to Papalia (1987) more fluent readers use the following strategies:

¨ Read things of interest

¨Have knowledge about the topic

¨Predict meaning

¨Draw inferences from the title

¨Skip words they do not know

¨Guess the meaning of unknown words from the context

¨Reread to check for comprehension

¨Ask someone what a word means

As will become apparent in my discussion on tasks, the text and accompanying tasks encourage or instruct readers in all of the above strategies. The first two points have already been discussed above. Furthermore, the lesson plan follows the KWL strategy (Ogle, 1989, in Farrell, 2009: 75). To outline this briefly, the pre-reading activities ask students to discuss what they know, first reading activity asks students to consider what they want to know, and second and post reading activities ask students to discover, discuss and utilize what they have learned.

To begin with pre-reading activities, students are encouraged to activate their schemata by discussing what they already know about the topic. It is preferable to begin by using such a top-down approach because grasping the basic picture prepares students to both predict content and to deal with potential misreadings. (Nuttall, 1996: 151) These initial questions regarding plastic surgery and ‘having a go’ not only activate schemata; they also serve to pique students’ interest, relate the text to their own experience or knowledge, and involve the students actively in discussion. Moreover, the pre-reading activities do not provide them any information they can get from the text. While this section could be a bit shorter, it otherwise meets all of Nuttall’s criteria for a good introduction. (Nuttall, 1996: 157)

The following reading activities section is divided into first and second reading activities, in order to encourage different reading strategies. “A critical component for comprehension is the ability to use appropriate reading strategies and to know when to use them and in what combinations, depending on different reading purposes and tasks.” (Grabe, in Richards & Renanda, 2002: 281) The first reading activity asks students to make predictions and then skim the text and then consider a global question “Do you think Britain is a good place to have plastic surgery? Why or why not?” Because a time limit is set (2 minutes), students have no choice but to skim the text. Students are asked to make predictions, but because the task asks for non-specific information, it allows them to glean their own understanding of the text, which may or may not include specific ‘key weaknesses,’ and then discuss those understandings in pairs or groups. This activity as well as the following, builds on the idea that “interpretation and response are the core of a text-based lesson.” (Nuttall, 1996: 150) The second reading activity requires that students utilize a combination of strategies - reading the text extensively while scanning for specific information. Again, students are asked to check and discuss their understanding in pairs or small groups. In this way “much of the guidance comes from fellow students. The effort to understand the text is made jointly.” (Nuttall, 1996: 162)

Post-reading activities begin with an activity which encompasses both a reading skill and a language focus. The first activity asks students to examine words and phrases in the text to try to decipher their meaning through contextual clues. While some of the words here are quite simple, such as ‘picture’ in a distressing picture, and ‘safety’ in safety watchdog, they are included as part of useful collocations. The rationale behind this comes from a collocational approach to vocabulary, in which “we should leave as much language as possible in the form in which we find it.” (Lewis, M. 2000: 19) Additionally, some of the words included, such as ‘treatment’ in shabby treatment, further clue students in towards an understanding of meaning in context. The second post-reading activity, discussion, requires students to consider what they have just read, utilize and voice the new knowledge they have gained, work cooperatively in problem solving, and further personalize the text. The final exercise is a role-play. This brings the entire lesson, and the meaning of the text, from the cognitive into the affective realm, as students now place themselves in a situation where the topic of plastic surgery is imagined in a much more personal way.

It should be noted at this point that each activity builds upon previous ones. Pre-reading activities activate schemata and build interest. First-reading activities then build global comprehension, while second-reading activities create more detailed understanding. In post-reading activities, the language focus not only further builds skills, but allows students an even more thorough understanding of the text. Finally, there is a culmination and application of new knowledge in discussion and role-play. This again follows clearly from Nuttall “The way group activities are sequenced is important: early tasks may help students to do well on later ones. This may affect the design of the materials.” (Nuttall, 1996: 165) Throughout the course of the lesson, the teacher’s role is to guide students towards appropriate reading strategies and a valid and meaningful interpretation of the text. The teacher should not only present the text and accompanying activities, but also take note of students’ processes, being aware of their interpretations, strengths and weaknesses, and guide them by ‘leading from behind.’ (Gibbons, from Samuda, 2009: 120). Each activity or task not only builds upon the previous ones, but also provide students, especially in pair or groupwork, with very precise instructions. As Samuda has stated: “To be useful for groupwork, a task must specify exactly what is to be done, engage every member of the group and promote vigorous discussion.” (Nuttall, 1996: 165) Finally, I would like to comment on the use of pairs or small groups. Depending on the number of students in a class, there will not always be a complete set of pairs. Nor are the collaborative tasks better achieved by pairs: they will be equally effective and engaging enacted between pairs or in groups of three students.

III. Summary

The above lesson has been created bearing a number of significant factors in mind. It begins with an introduction to students of the shape and objectives of the lesson. Reading strategy development, student centered communication activities, language focus, and topical development have been used to organize the lesson. Almost all of the class time is used for learning; activities have learning rather than testing focus, and they are varied so as to maintain students’ interest. Students have opportunities both to provide and receive feedback regarding strategy development, performance and topic. Finally, the text itself is authentic, compelling, and reflects the type of reading students may (have to) do outside of class time. In this way, it follows Richards’ principles that “capture the essence of effective instruction.” (Noonan, 1991: 76)

Sources

¨ Farrell, TSC. (2009). Teaching Reading to English Language Learners. Corwin Press

¨Grabe, W. In Richards & Renandya (Eds.) (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

¨ Lewis, Michael, Ed. (2000). Teaching Collocation: Further Developments in the Lexical Approach. Hove: Language Teaching Publications.

¨Nuttall, C. (1996). Teaching Reading Skills In A Foreign Language, 2^nd Edition. Heinemann.

¨Nunan, D. (1991). Language Teaching Methodology. Prentice Hall.

¨ Saluda, Virginia. “Chapter 17. Guiding relationships between form and meaning during task performance: The role of the teacher”. In Van den Branden, Bygate & Norris (Eds.) (2009). Task-Based Language Teaching. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

¨ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11303458

Appendix A

Cosmetic
surgery industry in UK 'has key weaknesses'
By Nick
Triggle

Health
reporter, BBC News

 

There
are fundamental weaknesses in the way cosmetic surgery is carried out in the
UK, an official review body says.

The
National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death found many centres
were failing to assess and care for patients properly.  In particular, the poll of 361 sites found
patients were at risk from a culture
which saw teams "have a go"
at operations they rarely performed.

The
professional body for cosmetic surgeons
accepted there was a problem.  The
British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons only has about a third of the
industry as members.



President
Nigel Mercer said: "This presents a
distressing picture, but one which is sadly not surprising. Aesthetic
surgery needs to be recognised
as the multi-million pound specialty it is."



Rising

The
National Confidential Enquiry said closer and tougher regulation was the answer, pointing out that half of the sites
it had contacted had failed to answer its questions - despite rules saying they
should.

The
researchers from the government-funded safety watchdog looked at all sites that offered cosmetic surgery
privately, including some NHS hospitals that have private wings.

There
are now about 100,000 cosmetic operations
carried out each year - a figure which is rising - with breast enlargements by
far the most common.

The
researchers found that psychological evaluation
was carried out only in slightly more than a third of centres they assessed.

The
two-stage consent process, which is recommended to allow patients time to
reflect on the treatment, was not performed at 32% of sites.

More
than half of the operating
theatres were not properly equipped and a fifth had no emergency readmission policy, while monitoring before and after
treatment was not sufficient,
the researchers said.

But
the authors saved some of their strongest criticisms for the inexperience of
some of the teams. They said with the exception of breast enlargement operations, the majority
of sites were not carrying out enough procedures to keep their skills up.

It is accepted
that sites should be carrying out more than 20 operations a year to give them
enough experience.  But only one in 10 managed this for
ear-pinning, a fifth for breast reductions and a quarter for facelifts.

Report
author Dr Alex Goodwin said: "Cosmetic surgery is far too dispersed with too many teams prepared
to 'have a go' at procedures
that they rarely perform. And failures in monitoring
patients after surgery are a recipe for disaster."

The
Department of Health said the findings cast
a "long shadow" over the industry and it expected tougher
regulation in the future.

In
October, a new system is being introduced in England which will cover the
cosmetic surgery industry. It will allow the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to
fine and prosecute the worst offenders.

Amanda
Sherlock, CQC's director of operations said: "It is unacceptable that some
cosmetic surgery providers don't have the basic standards of good medical practice in place." 

Peter
Walsh, chief executive of Action against Medical Accidents, said the "shabby treatment" was putting
lives at risk.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11303458

Appendix B

A. Pre-reading activities:

Discuss with a partner or in small groups

2. What does it mean to ‘have a go’? Is there anything you would like to ‘have a go’ at?

B. Reading activities:

First reading: The title of the text is ‘Cosmetic surgery industry in UK 'has key weaknesses'

3. Read (skim) the text quickly (2 minutes). Do you think Britain is a good place to have plastic surgery? Why or why not?

4. Discuss your opinion with your partner / group: do you have the same ideas?

Second reading:

Read the text again.

5. What types of plastic surgery operations are mentioned in the text?

6. What ‘key weaknesses’ are mentioned?

7. Check with your partner / group: do you have the same ideas?

C. Post reading activities:

8. Look through the text carefully and find words or phrases in italics. Using the context (surrounding words), make a guess at their meaning. You may write down two or more possible meanings if you wish. Compare your ideas with your partner / group. Which meanings seem to make the most sense?

9. Discussion: Would you ever consider having plastic surgery? Do you think it would be preferable to have it done in Britain, or in your own country? Why? Do you have any ideas on how the situation presented could be improved? What do you think attitudes towards plastic surgery are like in Britain? Are attitudes towards plastic surgery in your country different, or similar?

10. Role-play: In groups of two or three prepare and enact the following role-play:

A - You are a teenager, 17, nearly 18 years old, and have been saving up secretly to have a plastic surgery operation. You are convinced it will change the quality of your life for the better, and now is the time for you to discuss this with your parent/s, as you want to convince them of your reasons and gain their approval.

B (and C) - You are the parent/s of A. Try to convince your child of the reasons NOT to have plastic surgery.

First, as a group, decide who will take each role, and what kind of plastic surgery operation A will aim to have. Then, each student should spend five minutes preparing their position and reasons. Rehearse the role-play and perform for the class.

Second Language Learning – Factors in Determining Individual Progress

2012-06-30T20:35:00.002-07:00

Second Language Learning – Factors in Determining Individual Progress

Christopher Stern

From classroom and personal experience, language teachers and learners are clearly aware that individual language learners progress at different rates and in different ways. (Aside from age, which has been discussed in the previous paper for this course), a number of factors come into play in accounting for these differences. In this paper I will examine the following factors as they relate to individual language learning ability: personality, previous language learning and classroom experiences, beliefs, motivation, learning and communication strategies, behavior, and L1 proximity and interference.

Beginning with the most essential and possibly immutable factor, we have personality. Learners will have a wide range of personality characteristics, which will influence their thinking, feeling, and behavior both inside and outside the classroom. Among these, one author notes the opposing characteristics of: “introversion / extroversion, reflectiveness / impulsiveness, field independence / dependence, self-confidence, self-concept, self-efficacy, creativity, anxiety, and motivation (extrinsic / intrinsic).” (Cohen, 1996: 10) Across this spectrum of personality types, it would seem obvious that those on the shy or introverted side would tend to engage less with speakers of the target language, not to mention their L1. Researchers in the field have made such observations. “Shy people are usually less inclined to enter into casual contacts with strangers. They are less likely to avail themselves of opportunities to interact with members of the target language group.” (Hinenoya and Gatbonton, 2000: 5) On the other hand, it has often been noted that more typically successful language learners display an integrative disposition – “a positive interpersonal / affective disposition towards the L2 group and the desire to interact with and even become similar to valued members of that community.” (Dörnyei, 5)

In addition to personality, our feelings about previous language learning experiences influence our motivation, and subsequently, behavior. Dörnyei has stated as much, saying “the subjective reasons to which we attribute our past successes and failures considerably shape our motivational disposition.” (Dörnyei, 8 – 9) Furthermore, Dörnyei contends that “the classroom environment – and, more generally, the contextual surroundings of action” have a strong motivational influence. He goes on to elaborate that course-specific components, such as the teacher, methodology, selected course materials and activities, as well as the specific group of students all play a part in shaping the motivational profiles of learners. (Dörnyei, 11)

Very closely related to, and often contingent upon, one’s previous language learning experiences, are the beliefs that a learner may hold regarding their own language learning capability and the level of difficulty of the target language to be acquired. This is especially true for many Asian learners of English, whose primary English language classroom experience may be that of teaching through a non-communicative method, with an extensive focus on grammar. Such students often come away from their learning (or non-learning) experiences with two distinct beliefs intact: 1) with regard to language learning, they are somehow incompetent, and 2) English is a diabolically difficult language. While some learners can make progress despite this type of experience, perhaps because of other factors outlined here, or because of secondary language learning experiences, addressing and challenging these beliefs are often the necessary first goals of the teacher in a more communicative language learning environment.

Motivation is classically divided into two forms – extrinsic and intrinsic. Those learners who can be identified as having strong intrinsic motivation to learn a language will tend to achieve better results. Extrinsic motivation, being based on external goals, and by which language is merely the means to their end, is nonetheless often a strong force in the acquisition of language. According to Hinenoya and Gatbonton (2000), who use the terms integrative (intrinsic) and instrumental (extrinsic), “the classic finding of these studies is that the higher the learners’ desire to interact and integrate with the target group (integrative motivation) or to find employment, seek advancement, and so on (instrumental motivation), the better their performance in their course work and the higher their proficiency levels” (Hinenoya and Gatbonton, 2000: 1)

Different learners will approach both their learning and their communication in the TL in different ways. Some will do so with more awareness and expertise than others. While, as Griffiths notes, it is practically impossible to distinguish between whether the learner’s motivation in certain circumstances is to enhance learning or communication, more adept learners employ specific strategies. (Griffiths, 2004: 3) These strategies have been outlined differently by different authors, but I find Oxford’s six groups of learning strategies the most useful delineation. These are: memory strategies, cognitive strategies, compensation strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies, and social strategies. (from Oxford, as outlined in Griffiths, 2004: 4) Without going into further detail, it seems apparent that what is at issue is levels of awareness – the greater the cognitive and affective awareness the learner brings to the process of learning and language use in communication, the greater their success in language learning will be.

While some authors have differentiated between conscious behaviors (as strategies) and unconscious behaviors (as processes) with regards to learning (Cohen, 1996: 6), if we consider behavior as a generalized whole, referring to the set of activities in which an individual engages, it becomes obvious that certain kinds of behavior – socializing, attentive listening, etc. will lead to more language learning than others – sky gazing, Nintendo, etc.. It would seem that an individual’s behavior derives from and in a sense becomes the manifestation of all of the previously discussed factors.

With regard to L1 – TL proximity, learners of a language background which is closer to the target language (e.g. German learners of English), will typically have an advantage over learners whose L1 is linguistically more distant from the L2 (e.g. Thai learners of English). This position has been justified in studies of the effect of previously know languages on the language learning process. As quoted from Ringbom in Gass and Selinker (2008), “Similarities[between previously learned languages and the TL], both cross-linguistic and interlinguistic, function as pegs on which the learner can hang new information by making use of already existing knowledge, thereby facilitating learning.” (Gass and Selinker, 2008: 137) This further implies that learners who have already had the experience of acquiring one or more L2 will have subsequently easier experiences of acquiring an additional L2. In fact, Klein, as reviewed in Gass and Selinker (2008), “found that multilinguals out-performed monolinguals in both [lexical and syntactic] types of learning.” (Gass and Selinker, 2008: 153) This appears to be the case regardless of the proximity between the previously learned L2 and the subsequent TL: the practice of having already learned an L2 is itself a transferrable skill. It is likely that such a previous learning success has an impact on the learner’s belief system as well. (Related to the topic of linguistic knowledge, it should also be noted that learners bring various amounts of background knowledge to their learning experience. This too, serves as an aid to their language learning success, in that more background knowledge gives them a greater range of schemata to activate and reference in the process of language learning.)

Finally, L1 interference (also called language transfer) is a common impediment in the acquisition of any language. Gass and Selinker (2008) summarize that “there are three interacting factors in the determination of language transfer: (a) a learner’s psychotypology, that is, how a learner organizes his or her NL; (b) perception of NL-TL distance; and (c) actual knowledge of the TL.” (Gass and Selinker, 2008: 150) Interestingly, the perception of NL-TL distance can function conversely to expectation – it was found that “when great similarities exist between the L1 and the L2, the learner may doubt that these similarities are real.” (Gass and Selinker, 2008: 138)

In conclusion, there are a number of factors which differentiate learners with regard to the degree of success they will achieve in learning a second language - personality, previous language learning and classroom experiences, beliefs, motivation, learning and communication strategies, behavior, and L1 proximity and interference. It should be noted however that with the possible exceptions of personality and previous experiences, none of these factors are immutable. Most can be changed: motivation can be developed, and often goes through a natural waxing and waning; strategies and behavior can be achieved through specific training; and even L1 interference can be overcome through the application of attention and intensive study.

Sources:

¨ Cohen, A. (1996). Second Language Learning and Use Strategies: Clarifying the Issues. Minneapolis: Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota.

¨ Dörnyei, Z. (no date). Attitudes, Orientations, and Motivations in Language Learning: Advances in Theory, Research, and Applications. Nottingham: University of Nottingham.

¨ Gass, S. & Selinker, L. (2008). Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course (3^rd edition). New York: Routledge.

¨ Griffiths, C. (2004). Language Learning Strategies: Theory and Research. Auckland: School of Foundation Studies.

¨ Hinenoya, K. & Gatbonton, E. (2000). ‘Ethnocentrism, Cultural Traits, Beliefs, and Proficiency: A Japanese Sample.’ The Modern Language Journal 84 no2, 225 - 40.

¨ Nikolov, M. (2000). ‘The Critical Period Hypothesis Reconsidered: Successful adult learners of Hungarian and English.’ IRAL 38 (2), 109 – 24.

Developing First and Second Language Ability: Acquisition and Learning

2012-06-30T20:24:00.003-07:00

Developing First and Second Language Ability: Acquisition and Learning

Christopher Stern

Acquiring one’s mother tongue differs distinctly from learning a ‘foreign’ or ‘second’ language in multiple aspects. In this paper I will discuss some possible explanations for these differences. First, I will look at the activation of Universal Grammar as the creation of certain linguistic pathways, which in the process obscures others, as evidenced in L1 interference. Next, I will examine psychological and age-related factors. Finally, I will provide differing definitions of ‘acquisition’ and ‘learning,’ arguing that both processes are necessary in gaining proficiency in L2.

Becoming a speaker of one’s mother-tongue is the first activation of UG. Is it possible, that as with gene activity, linguistic experiences can ‘turn on’ or ‘turn off’ ‘switches’ thus making subsequent learning more difficult? Robert Sapolsky, in examining the ‘nature vs. nurture debate’ in biology, observes that “noncoding DNA does something interesting indeed. It’s the instruction manual for how and when to activate those [coding] genes. . . . And what regulates this genetic activity? Often the environment.” (Sapolsky, p. 20) Similarly, perhaps it is our L1 environment, which activates aspects of UG, turning on certain linguistic pathways, and in doing so, turning off others.

L1 interference may be seen as a manifestation of this. It almost always appears where the L2 structure is a more complex solution than the equivalent L1 structure. Some examples include: (Thai L1 to English) verb conjugation and tenses, and singular and plural differentiation, which cause problems for Thai learners; and (English L1 to Thai) the numeration system, using a simple counting method (English), or classifiers (Thai), which causes difficulty to learners of Thai whose first language is English. This would seem to indicate that our UG exists as an only partially formed system which is then specifically informed by the acquisition of L1. Subsequently, any arena within a certain L2 in which matters are comparatively complicated will typically produce L1 interference, unless the L1 is equally complicated in a similar way.

In relation to the four “logical possibilities” concerning innate mechanisms of UG as proposed by Mitchell and Myles, I would come closest to agreeing with the first, “that they continue to operate during second language learning, and make key aspects of second language learning possible,” but would disagree with the final clause here “in the same way that they make first language learning possible.” (Mitchell, R. and Myles, F.) I contend that these mechanisms, having already been activated by acquisition of an L1, are to varying degrees, depending on various factors, compromised. They continue to make second language learning possible, but not in the same way. More specifically, during adult acquisition of an L2, our capacity to notice has been compromised by our expectations of how a language and its grammar function, which have been acquired in the process of our L1 acquisition. Because L1 is acquired prior to any other linguistic stimuli, acquisition proceeds without the filter or any specific linguistic expectations or paradigms. But, because a specific linguistic paradigm (as differentiated from UG) already exists in the mind of the L2 learner, the L2 has to be learned as well as acquired. Unlike the L1, except for the rare individual who can approach her observation without any expectations, it cannot simply be acquired.

In regards to a phonetic system, this position appears to be consolidated by Bavin’s observations. He notes that early childhood acquisition of L1 begins with “The ability to discriminate other sounds, specific to the language of their environment” and “develops as they gain more experience with that language. Conversely, the ability to discriminate the earlier sounds weakens if these sounds are not part of the language being acquired.” (Bavin, E. L., 3)

Additionally, there are differences in the fundamental nature of L1 and L2 acquisition related to psychological development. Mother-tongue acquisition is our first experience of attaining a means towards self-expression, identity formation, socialization, and the ability to nominalize, and thus, to some degree, create, our reality. After this has been achieved once, at huge caloric expense, the motivation to achieve it again is far less likely to be as strong as in the first instance. To provide a parallel example from an academic standpoint, if you have worked hard to earn a post-graduate degree in a particular field, you will then utilize that degree to further your career, rather than pursuing an additional degree in an unrelated field. It is the rare individual who accumulates degrees only for the sake of doing so. In regards to the factor of motivation, it is interesting to note that in Nikolov’s study, the most successful L2 speakers “have a very strong intrinsic motivation to become bona fide residents of the target language society” and “try to feel at home in the culture as well as in the language.”(Nikolov, 5)

Even more crucial is the fact that the L1 and L2 learner develop their abilities at different ages, and consequently during differing stages of brain development, activity and function. Steven Pinker, writing about the most crucial years for L1 acquisition in The Language Instinct, states:

Synapses continue to develop, peaking in number between nine months and two years (depending on the brain region), at which point the child has fifty percent more synapses than the adult! Metabolic activity in the brain reaches adult levels by nine to ten months, and soon exceeds it, peaking around the age of four. The brain is sculpted not only by adding material but also by chipping it away. Synapses wither from the age of two through the rest of childhood and into adolescence, when the brain’s metabolic rate falls back to adult levels. Language development, then, could be on a maturational level, like teeth. (Pinker, p. 314)

And in reviewing a study examining the validity of the Critical Period Hypothesis, David Singletons states: “Among the late bilinguals two distinct but adjacent centres of [brain] activation were revealed for L1 and L2, whereas in the early bilinguals a single area of activation for both languages emerged.” (Singleton, 13) This would appear to point to physical evidence towards the CPH.

Nonetheless, as a result of studies of speakers of Hungarian with native-like proficiency, Nikolov states “I think it has been shown that the strong version of CHP cannot be maintained.” (Nikolov, M.) Singleton concurs, stating that age is only one of many factors determining the proficiency level ultimately attained in any language. He elaborates on four factors in L2 learning: motivation, cross-linguistic factors, education and general cognitive ability. He goes on to cite another study which, rather than validating the ‘strong version of CPH,’ indicates a steady decline of (English) L2 proficiency corresponding directly to immigrants’ age of arrival in New York State. This diminished view of CHP would seem to correspond to recent findings of continued brain plasticity throughout the adult years.

I would maintain the there are crucial distinctions between language acquisition and language learning. Language acquisition is the largely unconscious process of developing ability to use language through unexamined interaction with our environment. It is the way in which, for the most part, we become adept users of our mother-tongue. For some people, or in some cases, it can be the primary means of becoming adept at a second language. It is intrinsically an intuitive, synthesizing process. Acquisition can be further refined, or further informed, though learning. Language learning, on the other hand, is the application of conscious effort in developing understanding of and, ideally, the ability to use a language system. This is the manner in which native speakers may refine their knowledge and use of the ‘mother-tongue.’ It is usually the primary means by which individuals sometimes become adept at (but frequently only learn about) a second language. It is intrinsically an analytical, compartmentalizing process. Learning can, but does not necessarily lead to, acquisition.

Based on these definitions, I contend that in almost every case L1 development occurs through the process of acquisition, usually followed by a period of learning within a formal education system. A clear example differentiating acquisition from learning pointing towards the need for the latter in L2 development is given in Churchill’s case study. He makes the observation that “the inaccuracy in the written form and the internal inconsistency in some of the productive form/meaning relations [regarding a particular lexis item]remained unresolved until I had the time and space to work with these semantic forms, my computer, and a dictionary.” (Churchill, 14) Having first encountered the word in a communicative context, Churchill has followed the somewhat less usual route of acquisition followed by learning. L2 development, especially learning a foreign language, ordinarily follows the course of learning first, followed by acquisition through use for actual communicative purposes.

This clarification between acquisition and learning can also be of help the teacher of ESOL. It points towards the need to provide students with both structured learning opportunities as well as chances to creatively produce and explore language, resulting in acquisition. This is exemplified in teaching methodology in the distinctions between focus on form and focus on function, grammar as product and as process, and in the present-practice-produce model of lesson planning. What is important to recognize, and which is all too frequently forgotten in today’s emphasis on communicative teaching, is that both learning and acquisition are required: developing ability in an L2 cannot take place with one but not the other.

Sources:

¨ Bavin, E. L. (1995). Language Acquisition in Cross linguistic Perspective. Annual Review of Anthropology, 24, 373-396.

¨Churchill, Eton. A Case Study of a JSL Learner and a Word: A Dynamic Systems Account of the Path from Ecology to Form-relations. To appear in: Applied Linguistics.

¨ Mitchell, R. and Myles, F. (1998). Second Language Learning Theories. London: Arnold.

¨ Nikolov, M. (2000). ‘The Critical Period Hypothesis Reconsidered: Successful adult learners of Hungarian and English’ IRAL 38 (2), 109 – 24.

¨Pinker, Steven. (1994). The Language Instinct – The New Science of Language and Mind. London: Penguin Books.

¨ Pinker, Steven. (2007). The Stuff of Thought – Language as a Window into Human Nature. London: Penguin Books.

¨ Sapolsky, Robert M. (2005). Monkeyluv - And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals. New York: Scribner.

¨Singleton, David in Mayo, Maria G. and Lecumberri, Maria G. (Eds.). (2003). Age and the Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

The Listening Skill: Cognitive Processes, the L2 Classroom, and an Authentic Listening Text

2012-06-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

The Listening Skill: Cognitive Processes, the L2 Classroom, and an Authentic Listening Text

Christopher Stern

Listening to speech in order to construct meaning is an intricate process, which, because we engage in it on a daily basis in order to function as speakers of our native language, we generally overlook. In this paper, I will first explore the cognitive processes and other mental features of listening in our native language, and then examine how they can shed light on the activity of listening in an L2, and help to inform more effective practice of listening to the L2 as the acquisition of a skill. Finally, I will review a listening text (Real Lives, Real Listening, Unit 1) in order to critically examine the tasks and text included in consideration of those cognitive processes and mental features, and the degree to which they are activated, overlooked or further developed.

The Cognitive Process and Mental Features of Listening

In examining the cognitive process of listening to speech (herein: listening), it may be most central to introduce the concepts of bottom-up and top-down processing, both of which play an important part in the creation of meaning. Stated simply, bottom-up processing is processing beginning at the phonemic level – putting sounds together to form words, words to form phrases, phrases to form sentences. Top-down processing occurs though relating information from bottom-up processing to any relevant information we already have stored in our long-term memory. From our long-term memory, in top-down processing we access “three types of background knowledge … (1) linguistic information … (2) knowledge of the world … (3) knowledge of discourse structure” (Omaggio, 2001: 145)

The cooperative and co-dependent bottom-up and top-down processes are just the starting point in modeling the cognitive process of listening. The model for this process comprises three distinct mental entities – the memory store, working (or short-term) memory, and long-term memory. A dedicated memory store exists for each of the five senses, for the purpose of retaining, for a very short period, sensory information in an unanalyzed form. There are three stages to the cognitive process of listening, calling on both bottom-up and top down processing. In the first stage, sounds come into the auditory sensory store. This is the basis for bottom-up processing. It has been found that auditory information can be retained in its unanalyzed form for up to four seconds in the sensory store. In the second stage, this auditory information is held in the working memory while it is checked for concordances against information in the long-term memory in order to construe meaning. This is the activity of top-down processing. In the third stage, once meaning has been created, it may be transferred from working to long-term memory. It is instructive to note that such information is kept in a reduced form. (Underwood, 1989: 2)

Carroll, in Psychology of Language, makes three very useful observations related to the mental process of listening. First, he states “The relatively longer duration of the auditory store may enable us to reanalyze auditory messages that we did not understand initially.” (Carroll, 1999: 48) Secondly, he notes that most information in the sensory stores “disappears very rapidly because it is not germane to our current goals.” (Carroll, 1999: 48) And finally, he observes that in order to store information more efficiently we “chunk the words into grammatical constituents such as noun and verb phrases” (Carroll, 1999: 51).

Of additional use in understanding the process of listening is the concept of automatic and controlled processes. Carroll notes that the working memory has a limited processing capacity (Carroll, 1999: 49), and defines controlled processes as those which draw upon this limited capacity. He notes the importance of this concept when considering the cognitive load of complex tasks, and the possibility of cognitive overload leading to “impaired performance.” In contrast, automatic processes are those which “do not require extensive capacity.” (Carroll 1999: 54) In regards to listening, “One language processing task that is automatic, at least for adults, is recognizing common words.” (Carroll 1999: 55)

Given the importance of a goal in the cognitive process of listening, it is appropriate to consider the reasons for which listening takes place in authentic situations. These have been well delineated by Underwood. He summarizes by providing “five main reasons for listening …(a) to engage in social rituals (b) to exchange information (c) to exert control (d) to share feelings (e) to enjoy yourself” (Underwood, 1989: 4) He then goes on to delineate all kinds of listening situations for which students should be prepared. Although perhaps outdated in regards to genre, these include all the typical situations in which one listens to one’s native language. More pertinent than listing the various situations in which native speakers listen, is to note the various goal-dependent roles of the listener. These include listener as information gatherer (as in when listening to a lecture), listener as audience (watching TV or a film, listening to radio), listener as participant (and speaker, co-creating and directing the event), as side participant, and as overhearer. (Flowerdew, 2005:89) In each case, the listener has a different purpose, by which what is germane and what is not is determined. It is instructive to note that the last role, that of overhearer, while being the most typical role of the student listener, is the least common role of the authentic listener, and the one which provides the fewest authentic listening goals.

Likewise, given the importance of top-down processing in the act of listening, it is instructive to examine all the elements which may come into play. Flowerdew notes eight “distinct dimensions of listening …Individualized, Affective, Cross-cultural, Strategic, Social, Intertextual, Contextualized, Critical” (Flowerdew, 2005: 85). While fitting well with Omaggio’s triadic framework of linguistic, world and discourse knowledge, all of these comprise a listener’s background knowledge or lack thereof, thus determining top-down processing capability.

Implications for Effective Listening Practice in the L2 Classroom

Because of the dyadic nature of listening, it is important that listening tasks address both top-down and bottom-up processes. While the bottom-up process only occurs through listening itself, the top-down process can be activated prior to listening, by providing contextual cues, notably within the realms of students’ linguistic and world knowledge. This is known as activating the schemata. Numerous authors concur on the importance of activating schemata, as well as on the importance of choosing a text for which students have a schema to be activated. Omaggio states: “learning must be meaningful to be effective and permanent. For material to be meaningful, it must be clearly relatable to existing knowledge that the learner already possesses.” (Omaggio, 2001: 144) Furthermore, “comprehension …is not a matter of simply processing the words of the message, but involves fitting the meaning of the message to the schema that one has in mind.” (Omaggio, 2001: 148) This process of activating schemata can be accomplished in the classroom through introduction of any one of a number of facets of the listening – the topic, the relation of the speakers to each other, the location of the communication, the discourse genre, etc. – and asking students to consider what they already know in regards to it.

Brown argues that “you don’t want to dwell too heavily on the bottom-up, for to do so may hamper the development of a learner’s all-important automaticity in processing speech.” (Brown, 1994: 246) While I agree with the importance of activating schemata, I take issue with his phrase “a learner’s all-important automaticity.” Carroll notes that “not all top-down processing is facilitative …expectations may actually interfere with learning new material.” (Carroll, 1999: 54) That is to say, automatic reliance on top-down processing can lead to expectations which, when contradicted, are simply not perceived.

Because, as Carroll noted, information that is not germane to our goals for listening quickly disappears from the sensory store, it is important to provide students goals in listening. To some extent, goal generation occurs simply through the process of activating schemata. But this in and of itself is not enough. This is why pre-listening activities follow on with listening tasks, which are to be introduced and considered by the student before the listening itself, in order to provide the student a reason to listen. Thus, prior to listening, activities are designed to address only two purposes: providing context, and creating motivation. (Field, 2002: 243)

Finally, in consideration of the limited processing capacity of working memory, it is important that listening tasks are presented in a way that is manageable for students. Nunan, among many other authors, emphasizes the role of comprehensible input (Nunan, 2002: 238). When using authentic texts, comprehensibility is best achieved by simplifying student tasks. (Field, 2002: 244) Thus, through multiple listenings, tasks can be given which develop from an extensive, or gist-oriented, to an intensive, or detail-oriented nature. Because auditory information is stored in a chunked or reduced form, questions requiring listening for detail should be given attention before listening, as a cue for what to listen out for, while summarizing activities may be information-specific but not word-specific.

Real Lives, Real Listening, Unit 1

The text and accompanying exercises chosen were taken from Real Lives, Real Listening, available at http://www.northstarelt.co.uk/, and billed as a “new series of ready-made, unscripted, authentic listening materials featuring native and non-native speakers.” As can be seen from the transcript, this particular listening takes the form of an interview, and, as the interviewer’s questions follow quite naturally on ‘Scott’s’ replies, seems quite likely to be truly authentic, rather than even semi-scripted. In order to direct discussion of the tasks, I will summarize the transcript as being an interview with Scott, a young Australian living in a suburb of London, regarding the various living situations and neighbourhoods he has lived in in London.

The first task of Section 1 (Pre-Listening Comprehension) is titled Schema building, and this seems a good start. However, it takes the form of multiple choice questions, all relating to Australia (none of which are answered in the text), while none of the listening text relates to Australia in any way, and so, as an exercise in schema-building seems to miss the point. Task B, Discussion, follows on with a further question regarding Australia, a question asking students to consider why Scott may have left, and finally asking whether students know what an Australian accent sounds like. While the last question is unlikely to yield any discussion beyond “yes”,” no”, or “difficult to understand,” the first two, again do not serve to prepare the learners in any way for what they will hear. A better schema building exercise, given the content of the text, may be to ask students to discuss what they know about London, what sort of living arrangements young unmarried people often have in Western countries, and the advantages and disadvantages of living in certain types of neighbourhoods. The last task in this section, Normalisation, is a very good idea, as it “is designed to help you get used to Scott’s voice.” However, it is nothing more than a gap-fill exercise. As such, it is technically an intensive listening task rather than a pre-listening task. While pedagogically it seems sound in encouraging students to examine the exercise before listening to try to guess the (grammatical) types of words that may be needed, practically it is over-challenging as a listening activity, as all the information comes in far too quickly – most likely confusing students and interrupting their transfer from sensory store to paper. Rather than ‘normalise’ students to Scott’s voice it may simply serve to convince them of the difficulty of catching so much information in so short a time span.

In Section 2 (Listening Comprehension), we see a continuation of intensive listening tasks, where students are asked to listen for very specific information. The tasks take the form of questions which must be answered with specific, discrete information (A, C and E), or gap-fill (B, D and F). Furthermore, at no point are students encouraged to discuss or check their answers with other students. Ideally, at this point, students should first be given a more global listening task, for example: Does Scott live in a nice part of London? Why do you think he does or doesn’t? Discuss your answer with your friends. After such a task, students then can move on to listening a second time for more specific information.

Section 3, titled Interesting Language Points, begins with an examination of contrasting uses of simple and continuous verb forms in tasks A and B. As this is grammar- and not listening-specific it is not germane to our discussion. However, tasks C and D proceed to examine aspects of speech particular to the Australian accent. The following Section 4, Further Listening Practice, is of more interest from a listening perspective. Task A, Recognising sentence stress, would prove useful to listeners, with the added bonus that it asks students (unfortunately, again singly rather than in pairs), to predict which words might be stressed, then to check their predictions against the listening. Tasks B, C and E deal with minimal pairs, and task D with linking. In training students’ bottom-up listening skills these are sound (no pun intended) exercises. Unfortunately, this section of tasks fails to recognize the most interesting language points in regard to authentic spoken English – the ‘Um’s, the pauses, the reformulations, the back-channeling on the part of the interviewer, the ‘Yeah, yeah’ and collocated chunks of language such as “It’s all about …”

While there are an additional four pages of tasks, I will finish my analysis here, with the brief note that as opposed to the further gap-fill exercises, it would probably be much more instructive to focus in post-listening on class-specific difficulties that come up during the course of the initial listenings. As Field has stated: “the main aim of a listening lesson is diagnostic …A diagnostic aim for the listening lesson implies a change in lesson shape …it is much more fruitful to allow time for an extended post-listening period in which learners’ problems can be identified and tackled.” (Field, 2002: 246)

In summary, while providing students exposure to authentic listening texts is a necessity in the classroom, this is only one element of a well-thought out listening lesson. A well-developed listening lesson will take into consideration all aspects of the actual cognitive processes of listening, encouraging both top-down and bottom up processing, activating relevant schemata, as well as conversation, examining aspects specific to spoken language, and allowing time to deal with class-specific issues as they arise.

Sources:

Brown, D. (1994). Teaching by Principles. Location: Prentice Hall.

Carroll, D. (1999). Psychololgy of Language. Location: Brooks/Cole.

Field, J. in Richards & Renandya, Eds. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Flowerdew, J. & Miller, L. (2005). Second Language Listening. New York: CUP.

Lam, W. in Richards & Renandya, Eds. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Nunan, D. (1991). Language Teaching Methodology. Location: Prentice Hall.

Nunan, D. in Richards & Renandya, Eds. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Omaggio Hadley, A. (2001). Teaching Language in Context, 3^rd Ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

Richards & Renandya, Eds. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.

Underwood, M. (1989). Teaching Listening. Location: Longman.

REAL LIVES, REAL LISTENING series

YOUNG ADULT/ADULT

Author: SHEILA THORN
Levels: Elementary, Intermediate & Advanced

Download a free sample unit (932k)

Download accompanying audio files (19.6mb)

A new series of ready-made, unscripted, authentic listening materials featuring native and non-native speakers. Created by Sheila Thorn of The Listening Business these materials train, rather than just test, the students in listening. They boost students’ confidence in their listening skills by exposing them to authentic texts, and introduce the learner to the grammatical structures and lexis which are used most frequently in spoken English. The materials also help students deal with those aspects of informal spoken English which they find so challenging, e.g. assimilation, elision, linking and colloquial expressions.

Each topic in the series is at three levels (Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced) and each book includes a free CD with five interviews (different interviews at every level), each followed by detailed comprehension and language practice exercises which can be used in the classroom or for self-study.

The series reflects the latest academic theories on the importance of authentic listening practice in language acquisition. The series also shows our new awareness of the huge differences between spoken and written English highlighted by recent research on spoken English corpora. Forthcoming titles are listed below, and the series will feature over 100 native and near-fluent non-native English speakers from all the main regions of Britain, as well as Australia, Canada, the USA, South Africa, Africa, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey.

The books come with a free CD, comprehensive transcripts and helpful glossaries. Teachers’ notes are free online, containing classroom support and background notes.

source: http://www.northstarelt.co.uk/