Title: Simulation in CALL teacher education. A pilot experiment on Computer Mediated Communication.
Abstract:
One of the main objectives of CALL teacher education is technology integration into the language curriculum. Oxford & Jung (2007) draw on the existing literature to present a list of both positive and negative factors influencing technology integration, among these “[d]ifficulty in believing in the effectiveness of technology for teaching” (p. 31). However, although concerns for training effectiveness are numerous in the literature, descriptions of CALL training activities (ex. Bauer-Ramazani, 2006) are scarce in the literature and little is said about which activities in the CALL classroom can help teachers envisaging the potential of technology for language education. The present talk argues that such difficulty, at least in the case of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), can be partly overcome by showing trainee teachers such potential through simulation.
This talk discusses the benefits of simulation in fostering SLA students' understanding of CMC’s potential for their future teaching profession. An experiment will be presented that was carried on within a curricular course in Second Language Acquisition and CALL. The part of the course devoted to technology provided a general overview of the field aimed at developing the learners understanding of CALL tools. This part was followed by laboratory practice, where the experiment was carried out. Twenty-two university students with no teaching experience, both Italian and non-Italian native speakers, participated in a chat session and in a forum asynchronous discussion. They had previous experience with CMC tools, albeit they had reportedly never used such tools for language learning purposes. The tasks were designed to let the students have a first-hand experience of what happens during a CMC session and observe on themselves the phenomena described in the literature (e.g. negotiation). The tasks were quite simple as they consisted in describing, and have the other guess, a quite famous work of art (e.g. Constantine’s Arch in Rome). Learners were asked to work in pairs: one student was proficient in the target language and the other, who had to describe the work of art, was not: e.g. one student whose specialization language was French interacted with one who was not proficient in that language.
A classroom reading of the chat and fora transcript followed the tasks, in which learners could test and appreciate the CALL concepts and assumptions they were introduced to during the course: e.g. they could see samples of negotiation in their own discussion.
The talk will report on this experiment and will discuss the strong and weak points of such activity within a CALL programme. It is argued that such activity can be beneficial in CALL education as, by showing the reality of CMC, learners gain a deeper understanding of its features and potential, thus fostering their motivation to integrate technology into the foreign language syllabus.
Abstract:
One of the main objectives of CALL teacher education is technology integration into the language curriculum. Oxford & Jung (2007) draw on the existing literature to present a list of both positive and negative factors influencing technology integration, among these “[d]ifficulty in believing in the effectiveness of technology for teaching” (p. 31). However, although concerns for training effectiveness are numerous in the literature, descriptions of CALL training activities (ex. Bauer-Ramazani, 2006) are scarce in the literature and little is said about which activities in the CALL classroom can help teachers envisaging the potential of technology for language education. The present talk argues that such difficulty, at least in the case of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), can be partly overcome by showing trainee teachers such potential through simulation.
This talk discusses the benefits of simulation in fostering SLA students' understanding of CMC’s potential for their future teaching profession. An experiment will be presented that was carried on within a curricular course in Second Language Acquisition and CALL. The part of the course devoted to technology provided a general overview of the field aimed at developing the learners understanding of CALL tools. This part was followed by laboratory practice, where the experiment was carried out. Twenty-two university students with no teaching experience, both Italian and non-Italian native speakers, participated in a chat session and in a forum asynchronous discussion. They had previous experience with CMC tools, albeit they had reportedly never used such tools for language learning purposes. The tasks were designed to let the students have a first-hand experience of what happens during a CMC session and observe on themselves the phenomena described in the literature (e.g. negotiation). The tasks were quite simple as they consisted in describing, and have the other guess, a quite famous work of art (e.g. Constantine’s Arch in Rome). Learners were asked to work in pairs: one student was proficient in the target language and the other, who had to describe the work of art, was not: e.g. one student whose specialization language was French interacted with one who was not proficient in that language.
A classroom reading of the chat and fora transcript followed the tasks, in which learners could test and appreciate the CALL concepts and assumptions they were introduced to during the course: e.g. they could see samples of negotiation in their own discussion.
The talk will report on this experiment and will discuss the strong and weak points of such activity within a CALL programme. It is argued that such activity can be beneficial in CALL education as, by showing the reality of CMC, learners gain a deeper understanding of its features and potential, thus fostering their motivation to integrate technology into the foreign language syllabus.