Technology: New Medium in Learning Language Process

5^th Reflective Journal for Technology and Language Learning

            After last week I learned about principles in designing CALL, in these 8^th and 9^th sessions I learned about the ‘real’ example of CALL’s which has functions to teach listening and speaking skill.

 As for technology to teach listening skill I explored some websites which provide listening skill practice program like Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab and British Council-Learn English: Song and Lyric. These two websites I mentioned is the implementation of natural approach which proposed by Krashen and Terrel in 1983. This approach believes at two main things, comprehensible input and optimum affective state. It believes that to produce a good output in language learning process, learner should get an understandable input and free from anxiety, has good self confident and has good intrinsic motivation.  

            Both of the websites I mentioned before designing their website along with the natural approach view. With give a comprehensible input like in British Council-Learn English which gives input for young learner through song and animation and Randall’s website which provide listening skill practice program with contextual topic like conversation in telephone for adult learner. Both of the websites also elicit an optimal stage learning with provide a game and immediate test to examine learner understanding. The best thing is the correction of error is really instant but it won’t make learner feel ashamed if they did wrong.

            Other technology to teach listening skill is based on TPR (Total Physical Response) which proposed by Asher. This technique has strong believes that learner shouldn’t be force to produce output if they are not ready yet. This faith seems obviously in the websites which use this technique like Live Action English Interactive and TPR games. For example in Live Action English Interactive website, it provides a lot of video which tell about a certain activity complete with the illustration.  All teacher need to do are download the video, show the video in front of class and ask student to do pantomiming based on the video. Learner shouldn’t  have to produce any outcome like utterances or writing.

            Meanwhile in the 9^th session I learned about technology to teach speaking, honestly I had high expectation to explore all the CALL’s to teach speaking skill. I was thinking I would find a high tech CALL which could recognize and assess people’s speaking skill in English accurately, fairly and immediately.

            But then my high expectations kind of broken when I figure out that most of websites only provide programs to teach learners about the right pronunciation and repeat it by themselves alone.  Some of websites provide facilitate to record someone’s voice but the there is no assessment or correction from the website. The only human and machine interaction exist is when the website record someone’s voice.  Another bad point is some websites are ‘so heavy’ so it is not easy to open the website completely especially in my place which doesn’t have good internet connection.

            Last I will end my reflection with say that actually I hope soon there is a CALL who can assess someone’s speaking skill accurately  and I also hope internet connection in my place will get better and better.

Technology: Let’s Refine the Word ‘Learning’

4^th Reflection Journal for Technology and Language Learning

With today technology’s development I think we should refine definition of word ‘learning’. If in past many people (including me) assumed that learning is a process to gain knowledge in the classroom and students need to enroll in a legal institute. In my opinion that definition should be refined because it is not contextual anymore. In fact learning today is more likely a process to get information, cultivate it and applies it in real world without time or place restrains.  It could happen because technology help and it kind of amazed me.

            With technology help, face to face interaction in learning process shouldn’t be intense anymore. You even can learn overseas without literally go to overseas, even through that sound impossible with technology it possible. Because we can use internet to access lecture materials form some big university all over the world which provide Open University program and learn that materials independently. It will cost less and it really suitable for busy student because they can manage themselves better. 

            In special case like in language learning there is CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) to help language learner and like it doesn’t sophisticated enough after I attend 4^th course of TLL, I get to know about MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) which utilize the usage of mobile phone, PDA and Ipods for language learning. That is really cool because with MALL, language learner could learn language anytime and anywhere because the needed device is portable.

Photo taken from

http://blog.lyle.web.id/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/mixstyle-2.jpg

            I heard that in South Korea the usage of mobile for learning is really popular. It is because with MALL students can access their class in anywhere even in the middle of traffic! In South Korean, MALL is connected with internet, is not a big surprise considering South Korean is country with the fastest internet connection in the world. So lecturers record their lecture and upload it in internet then students can download it and learn from it.

            But of course aside from it strength, MALL also has weakness. Because slightly different with CALL which can access high quality of video or audio-video, with MALL it is quite hard to access ‘heavy’ page or content because it is not suitable with the devices. Other than that device for MALL is limited, it is not provided in all regions. So for today CALL is better than MALL due to MALL’s weakness.

Not only get to know about CALL and MALL from TLL’S course I also learn about how to design CALL program.  There are some things we should consider in designing CALL program. The most important thing are understanding that pedagogy should comes first rather than technology and awareness that pedagogical interactivity is a priority and it is followed by computer interactivity.  More than that I also learn about do’s and dont’s in content, visual, navigation and multimedia design for designing a good CALL program.

Personally I cannot wait for MALL and CALL to be popular in language learning process in Indonesia.

Technology: The Debatable Issue Which Creates a New Generation

3^rd Reflection Journal for Technology and Language Learning

            I have attended other sessions of Technology and Language Learning course. As the time pass by without me myself knowing I enjoy this course. That far different with my previous expectation about this course. Because although I always try to keep my positive thought  toward technology, I couldn’t help but feel rather shrink whenever I heard term “teaching with technology” and scared I can’t do my best in this course or get good score because I don’t really familiar with technology.

            But then I realize that technology is meant to help people life. It is supposed to help me for God’s sake not the opposite!! I get to know about it after I attended TLL meeting at 29^th September 2011. In that day my lecturer divided the class into two big groups and made us do some activities which include role play and debate. We are debating about whether a school better install new language lab or install internet connection to help language learning process. One group acted as school boards who agree to the first statement and another group acted as language teachers who propose the latter statement.  That was really a ‘hot’ and fun debate although in the end, the class debating each other without considering the debate’s parameter anymore.

            In the end of that session my lecturer sums up that technology is only a tool. So the good or bad result come from technology is all depend on the person who used it. He also says that in learning process, technology isn’t a methodology but a tool. So there is no guarantee that a teacher who uses a lot of technology can teach more effective than teacher who doesn’t because technology is not a replacement for teacher.

            Other than that, I also learn that technology has created a new generation. Because people who born after 1990 is called as digital native meanwhile people who born below those year are called as digital immigrant. Digital natives have different characteristics with digital immigrant because they are really “fluent” in use technology and fond with it since young age. Because the differences there even an assumption who says that digital native has different brain structure compare to digital immigrant!

            Well… whether that assumption is wrong or right the fact that digital natives have different characteristics with digital immigrant are noticeable. But actually I kind of confuse about myself, I was born in 1992 so I categorized as a digital native. But I am not quite “fluent” in use technology. Even my first time operating a computer was in my seventh grade and I just became fond to technology since my status change from a student to a scholar. Until now I am still not comfortable using a new technology nor up to date to it. Hehm… I am wondering whether I still can count as a digital native or digital immigrant. I will really appreciate it if there is someone who explains this matter to me.

Technology: The Loyal Assistant for Language Learning

            Have you ever heard about term “CALL”? CALL here isn’t one of verbs which based on Oxford learner pocket dictionary has meaning as use particular name when talking to someone on the conversation.  CALL here is an acronym. All those words stand for Computer Assisted Language Learning. Do you feel unfamiliar with that term? Do you feel confuse to heard that term?  Or feel curious about how can computer assist language learning process? Well actually many people especially people who live in less develop country are not quite familiar with this term. So do I who just got to know about term CALL after attending the second session of Technology and Language Learning course. 

                Through that course I get information that actually computer has used for so long time to assist language learning process. It started since 1960 until now. Actually CALL era has been divided into three eras, there are:

1.       1.Behavioristic Era (1960-1970)

When people believe that learn language is part of behavior. The most commonly use methods in language learning process are Grammar Translation and Audio Lingual. The most used technologies in this era are LCD, projector, tape recorder, language laboratory and some early software for drill and practice. In this era the language learning process is focus on accuracy. 

2.  2.Communicative Era (1980-1990)

The second era is communicative era, this time people believe that the most effective way to learn language is through communication with other. So the focus in language learning target change to the fluency of learner. The most commonly use technologies in this era are technologies which has “communicative sense” like telephone, text-reconstruction software and concordancing software. In this era there was even a language course via telephone.

3.       3.Integrative Era (1990- Present)

In this era language learning process is based on content. It means different people who have different purpose in learning language will learn different content of language. For instance an Indonesian student learns EAP (English for Academic Purpose) because he will continue his study in US.  At this time the most used technologies are Multimedia CALL and Web-Based CALL.

From all history above we can conclude that computer (technology) has become “a loyal assistant” for language learning process. Because with technology learning language become cheaper (The curve of cost for conduct a virtual language learning process decrease as the time goes), more interesting (With so many attractive software), more real (because today through internet various communication with various people is easily happened) and more easily (just need one button “search” to find so many authentic reading materials).

                But it doesn’t mean that there are no disadvantages with using technology to assist language learning process. Because at least there are five disadvantages of it, there are high cost to provide all needed facilities, need a expert, less interactive compare to direct communication, there is chance for unexpected situation occur like technical error and usually there are only writing, reading and listening software for learning language meanwhile there is no software for assist speaking skills.

                That all material I know for now. Last, personally I think that  Indonesia education haven’t ready yet for use Web-based CALL for language learning regarding to some reason. First is because the different topography from one region to another. Second is because the high cost needed to provide all facilities in school. Next is because limited expert to teach language assist by technology in school and last is because the quite poor internet connection in Indonesia which could make occurrence of unexpected situation increase. Because of all reason above I think for now the usage of Web based CALL in Indonesia is not the right answer or effective method for language learning process especially in remote area.

TLL 1ST Reflective Journal

22^th September 2011, finally the day came. Since first time I heard about course “Technology and Language Learning” I felt so worry about it whether I could follow this course good enough or not. That because I am not so into the technology.  I even consider myself as an “obsolete” in technology. But then my point of view has changed as the course was running. That because two simple questions from my lecturer, there are:

1.  How does technology help you to learn?

2.  How does technology help you to learn language?

I thought I never used technology for learning especially for learning language. But when I think more about it, I realize that I have used technology for learning since long time ago and I even use technology almost in every single day! I just realize it when my lecturer gives me definition about what is technology. That technology is anything which has function to make people life easier. That is so far different from what I was believe about what is technology. I thought that term “technology” relate very closest with some of difficult and unfamiliar software.

 Now that I finally understand about what technology is.  I can say that I also use technology in learning process because technology is including computer, Microsoft word, search engine, excel, power point, email, internet and ect which all I familiar with. I also feel more confidence about my future  performance in this course especially after I watched video about “New Digital Generation” which talks about how nowadays young generation even children have really strong interest in technology like IPad, Cellphone, Internet ect. For them technology even have became part of their life style.

Based on that fact on the video I cannot deny that one day I’ll become a teacher of high-tech students and when the time come I just cannot simply use an old style teaching methods like lecturing because I am sure they will get bored so easily and do not pay attention to me nor to the materials I try to transfer to them. So I think the only way to get them engage to my class is with use technology in my classroom.  I will try to utilize usage of technology in my classroom as part of learning tool. But of course before use certain technology I consider whether the material I want to impart to my student could be incorporated with technology or not.

Because of that need, I have high expectation for this course, I hope this course will help me to become more and more familiar with up to date technology like web 2.0 and support me to become high-tech teacher.