Chapter Five reports on the teachers’ beliefs about CALL after they participated the CALLTD program. Results on their beliefs will be presented first and then discussed.
Results
This section presents the four teachers’ end-of-the-workshop beliefs about CALL, especially the integration of particular technologies into their teaching. The four teachers’
beliefs could be categorized into five kinds: beliefs about the functions of general CALL, beliefs about the advantages of exploiting ready-made CALL resources, beliefs about the benefits of authoring CALL materials, beliefs about the roles of the teacher and students in CALL environments, and beliefs about the obstacles in CALL practices. These five
categories of beliefs will be presented in separate sections and then summarized in the end.
Functions of General CALL
Over the course of the 12-week workshop, the four teachers were equipped with some capabilities to exploit ready- made digitalized teaching resources and generate CALL materials. In general terms, they learned to enrich their teaching by incorporating the computer into teaching, as exemplified by Fanny:
“The integration of ICT into teaching” can enrich traditional teaching and learning.
Weblog can increase the interaction between the teacher and students out of class.
Podcast offers a space in which students can develop their oral proficiency after class.
Hot Potatoes can provide the teacher and students with an alternative to pencil-and-paper tests. (P1:45, forum reflection, Fanny, 6/23/2006)
『資訊融入英語教學』豐富了以往傳統的教學與學習方式，weblog增加老師和學生 課堂外的互動，podcast提供學生課堂外另一個表現口語能力的空間，Hot Potatoes 提供老師和學生們除了紙筆測驗之外的另一種選擇。(P1:45, forum reflection, Fanny,
6/23/2006)
In specific terms, they were aware of the capability of the computer to assist them in promoting their students’ learning motivation and changing their passive learning attitude.
The four teachers’ beliefs about these two aspects of CALL functions will be respectively presented in the following two subsections.
Motivating Students
As they joined the workshop, the four teachers gradually realized that the computer could be a good tool for promoting their students’ learning motivation. In particular, Fiona believed that a variation in presenting subject matter through the computer could probably give a refreshing feeling to the students. PowerPoint employed in presenting vocabulary items and grammatical patterns was believed to catch students’ attention in class:
PowerPoint is convenient in that it can provide a link to samples or images in teaching vocabulary and it can illustrate structural order in which particular sentence patterns are formed through animation in teaching grammar. Comparatively speaking, it can easily draw students’ attention. (P2:46, forum reflection, Fiona, 5/19/2006)
PowerPoint 提供了一個方便，若是在單字方面，它可以提供範例或圖片的連結，文 法方面，它可以透過動畫，表現句型的結構順序，比較起來它可以輕鬆地吸引學生 的注意力。(P2:46, forum reflection, Fiona, 5/19/2006)
In selecting particular images to be associated with the target words, Fanny noted that the images embedded onto PowerPoint slides had better speak to students’ life experiences in order to turn their attention to the target items. She believed: “The images used in PowerPoint teaching had better be related to students’ life— being authentic so as to easily catch students’
attention and strike their responsive chord.” [在教PowerPoint時，所用的圖片，最好要和學 生的生活相關，要 authentic 的，才容易吸引學生的注意力，共鳴。] (P1:28, forum reflection, Fanny, 5/20/2006)
In addition, Teresa stated that students could be motivated to learn if a teaching activity was creatively restructured through computer technology. Weblog, for instance, could be applied to teaching writing— chain story. This technological tool was believed to add some
interest to the writing task. Teresa explained how students might be motivated to write chain stories through weblog:
All groups have to make the characters of the story achieve the same goal, but through different means in each individual group. As such, the story with the same beginning would develop differently; the whole event would become fun as well. (P3:14, forum reflection, Teresa, 4/28/2006)
所有的組都必須讓故事中的角色完成同樣的目標，但各組要經由不同的方法。這樣 一來，同樣開頭的故事便有了不同的發展樣貌，整件事也有趣了起來。(P3:14, forum reflection, Teresa, 4/28/2006)
Developing Students’ Independence in Learning
The second function of CALL the four teachers were all concerned with was to develop students’ independence in learning. The computer was thought to offer students opportunities to learn more actively and independently. As pointed out by Shirley (P4:54, forum reflection, Shirley, 7/27/2006), students would feel “secured” in CALL environments because they would not have the risk of being laughed at in public by their classmates due to their poor performances. CALL software program such as MyET (My English Tutor) was believed to be an alternative learning option different from traditional classroom learning. Shirley thought that students could play an active role in determining the way they learned the target language:
Students can challenge themselves, seeing their grades progress time after time. This would result in more sense of achievement than mechanic feedback such as “Excellent!”
and “Try again!”. To those youngsters who have a strong self-esteem, they can practice on their own at home so that they won’t be afraid of being ridiculed by their classmates due to their poor oral performances in class. (P4:39, forum reflection, Shirley,
6/24/2006)
學生能自我挑戰，看著自己的成績一次比一次進步，這會比 “Excellent!”、“Try again!” 等機械式的feedback更有成就感。對於自尊心很強的青少年，可以在家自行 練習，不必害怕在課堂上開口表現不佳而受到同學的嘲笑。(P4:39, forum reflection, Shirley, 6/24/2006)
Likewise, Fiona shared the same view as Shirley regarding informative feedback provided by MyET. Fiona thought that MyET was a valuable self-access CALL tutorial that
could encourage her students to study on their own:
I think that the sentence-based practice in MyET is fairly interesting … As students practice, they would receive scores … It is very fascinating that the program can flag pronunciation errors and identify faults in English fluency. In the absence of a teacher, it is a pretty good software program for self-study… The conclusion is that I prefer MyET in that it provides informative feedback . (P2:61, 65, forum reflection, Fiona, 6/23/2006) 我覺得MyET的單句練習還滿有趣的 … … 當學生練習時，會給予成績 … … 它會 表達標示出發音上的錯誤，與你的英語流利度上的問題，非常有趣，在沒有老師的 情況下，若要自學，是一個不錯的軟體 … … 結論是我比較喜歡MyET，它有包含 informative feedback。(P2:61, 65, forum reflection, Fiona, 6/23/2006)
Another way to promote learning independence was to encourage students to select the learning materials that really satisfied their needs and interests. In contrast with traditional teaching setting where students tended to passively receive learning materials from the teacher, CALL environments seemed to grant them opportunities to freely determine learning resources they wanted. This advantage was noted by Shirley and Fanny:
And students would not merely receive [teaching materials] passively; they can decide on the tastes on their own (e.g. self-studying through CD-ROM programs or the Internet after class). Even, they can provide materials (their own works) to the teacher for use.
(P4:52, forum reflection, Shirley, 7/27/2006)
而學生並非只是被動的接收，他們可以自行決定口味（例如課後利用光碟或網路自
行學習），甚至可以提供材料（自己的作品）給老師應用。(P4:52, forum reflection,
Shirley, 7/27/2006)
Because of some materials students have never seen, they would feel that they turn out to be able to find something on the Internet and study on their own. I think this is beneficial to students. (P5:14, interview, Fanny, 7/10/2006)
因為有些東西是學生沒有看過的，那他們會覺得說原來網路上是可以自己找東西，
是可以自己學東西。我覺得是有助益的。(P5:14, interview, Fanny, 7/10/2006)
Advantages of Exploiting Ready-Made CALL Resources
Ready- made CALL resources specifically referred to EFL websites and CD-ROM packages. All four teachers recognized that such digitalized resources could serve as good supplementary materials to the textbooks they were using. Over the course of the workshop,
they found that there were a large number of ready- made CALL materials they seldom heard about in the past. For example, Fiona reported on her case:
After the workshop was over, I thought that there seemed to be a lot more stuff that could be used, such as Hot Potatoes, to which I had never gained access before. As for podcast, I also had never accessed and heard about it before. These made me feel that there was actually a great deal of stuff that could be used. (P6:13, interview, Fiona, 7/11/2006) 上完課之後就覺得好像還有很多東西可以用，像 Hot Potatoes，以前完全沒接觸過，
那 podcast 的話，以前也是完全沒接觸過聽過這樣子，這些讓我覺得其實有很多東 西可以用。(P6:13, interview, Fiona, 7/11/2006)
The following section will present how the four teachers conceptualized the ready- made CALL resources as supplementary teaching materials with respect to providing students with more linguistic input and output.
Exposing Students to More Authentic and Comprehensible Input
EFL websites and CD-ROM programs were mostly thought of as additional teaching materials for enriching the four teachers’ instructions. The computer was believed to equip them with a capability to gain easy access to a great bulk of linguistic input that could enhance the authenticity of teaching materials and increase students’ understanding of particular target linguistic items and cultural backgrounds.
Regarding easy access to a great bulk of linguistic input on the Internet, the four teachers emphasized the ease to select certain reading and listening materials out of ready- made
CALL resources abundant on the Internet. In particular, weblog articles and podcast episodes, as Teresa and Shirley reflected, were very good reading and listening input for language practice (P3:49, forum reflection, Teresa, 7/14/2006; P4:50, forum reflection, Shirley, 7/27/2006). That is, the computer could open the door to more linguistic input for students.
This advantage was also echoed by Fanny, who thought that the convenience of grabbing particular information free of charge from the Internet largely assisted her in preparing teaching materials:
I think it (the website) is free of charge and easy [to use]. If some good websites are
introduced, it would be very convenient for everyone to log on to them searching for information. For example, Teacher Elaine introduced a website about English songs which is devoted to searching for lyrics. I think that is fairly practical. (P5:47, interview, Fanny, 7/10/2006)
因為我覺得它（網站）是免費的，而且它又很容易，如果介紹幾個好的網站的話，
大家上去搜尋資料就很方便，像那個 Elaine 老師不是介紹那個歌曲，找歌詞的，我 覺得那個都蠻實用的。(P5:47, interview, Fanny, 7/10/2006)
The linguistic input on the Internet was thought to be able to enhance authenticity of learning materials. The three junior high school teachers, Teresa, Fanny, and Shirley, were in favor of the authenticity of web-based materials and CD-ROM programs for language teaching. Because linguistic input offered by the textbook usually lacked authenticity, they believed that the textbook could be supplemented with web-based materials that were more authentic. Teresa noted in the interview: “There is a wealth of input on the Internet.
Particularly there are large amounts of listening materials … And the more authentic they are, the better they are.” [網路上那個 input 實在太多，listening 的東西好多 … … 而且是越 authentic 越好。] (P7:6, interview, Teresa, 7/17/2006)
Fanny shared a similar view with Teresa by pointing out that some CD-ROM titles were more authentic in content than the textbook.
Compared to the instructional CD-ROMs I accessed before, this CD-ROM package is more authentic in terms of the content because its video content reflects the current cultures in American society and its dialogue content is not as stereotyped as the textbook , which contains formulas that you would be aware of upon listening. (P1:43, forum reflection, Fanny, 6/23/2006)
這份光碟產品和我以前所接觸的教學光碟比起來，在內容上比較 authentic，因為 可以看出來：它的影片內容反映美國社會目前的文化，而它的對話內容亦不像我們 教科書安排的那樣死板，一聽就知道是代公式的。(P1:43, forum reflection, Fanny, 6/23/2006)
Shirley also noted that movie trailers and commercial videos on the Internet were good for enhancing authenticity of linguistic input:
The way of combining film trailers or commercial video clips with Hot Potatoes would be indeed a great idea, as you (the teacher educator) exemplified. On the one hand, it can cater to the films students favor; on the other hand, they can do a different
practice … And with the authentic materials exploited, they would not easily lose interest due to repetitive practice. (P4:36, forum reflection, Shirley, 6/23/2006)
老師所舉的像利用電影預告或廣告結合 Hot Potatoes 的方式的確是一個好點子，一 方面可配合學生所喜歡的影片，一方面也讓他們有不一樣的練習方式 … … 又能利 用 authentic materials，也不易讓學生因重複練習而失去興趣。(P4:36, forum reflection, Shirley, 6/23/2006)
The linguistic input provided by the computer could also increase students’ conceptual comprehension of the target items and structures. The most conspicuous example impressing the four teachers in the workshop was the use of multimedia CD-ROM dictionary in
vocabulary teaching. Consider the case of Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (3rd edition and bilingual in English and Chinese). It was bundled with a CD-ROM program containing vocabulary items illustrated by images and videos. The following quotation presents Fiona’s view in this respect.
The videos embedded in Longman dictionary [CD-ROM] are pretty impressive. Pictures and videos are usually the best ways to facilitate learning. Through the materials, students can comprehend [vocabulary words] quickly and furthermore acquire them.
(P2:64, forum reflection, Fiona, 6/23/2006)
朗文的 dictionary 內建的 video 真的很讓人印象深刻，picture 和 videos 通常是幫助 學習的最好方法，透過它們，學生們可以很快的理解，而且上手。(P2:64, forum reflection, Fiona, 6/23/2006)
Providing Students With More Opportunities to Produce Linguistic Output
In addition to providing linguistic input, CALL environments were also believed to supply students with opportunities to use the target language. Ready-made CALL materials, in particular, might increase the opportunities for students to use the target language and furthermore receive informative feedback in the communications. The two advantages were identified in the following.
Teresa, Shirley, and Fiona thought that the computer was a good tool for their students to practice using the target language. For example, as Teresa reflected, “The Internet and
recently developed interactive software provide a more convenient environment for learners to use the language ” (P3:48, forum reflection, Teresa, 7/14/2006). In this respect, the four
teachers were particularly in favor of CD-ROM programs, for the software packages could create speaking opportunities for their students. For example, the students could play a role of a speaker interacting with an agent personified by the computer in a simulated dialogue. This interactive function was true of Touchstone CD-ROM (McCarthy, McCarten, & Sandiford, 2006). In Teresa’s view, the students were in an active position to determine the way they could interact with the computer:
[The learners] can play the role by hiding the lines or the whole conversation. The learning process might involve either recalling or responding to the content and the context comprehended. The learners can further take advantage of comprehension and creativity by producing utterances that can meet with the context but differ from the original dialogue. That would be a higher level of constructive understanding. (P3:45, forum reflection, Teresa, 6/18/2006)
“Play the role”時可以 hide the lines or hind [hide] the whole conversation，其 learning process 可能是 recall，也可能是對 content and context comprehend 之後的反應。如 果 learners 更進一步發揮理解與創造力，回應符合情境但與原對話不同的答句，那 就是更高一級的 constructive understanding 了。 (P3:45, forum reflection, Teresa, 6/18/2006)
Another advantage of developing productive skills through EFL software programs was that students could receive informative feedback when they interacted with the programs.
This case was particularly true of speaking-oriented software programs, such as MyET mentioned earlier, as identified by Fiona and Teresa:
The conclusion is that I prefer MyET because it provides informative feedback … However, if it were further made to be more humane, it would be a fantastic self-study
The conclusion is that I prefer MyET because it provides informative feedback … However, if it were further made to be more humane, it would be a fantastic self-study