Literature Review - 大一英文於整合教室與網路之課程的發展、建置與評量

In this section, the relevant literature review of this study is divided into three parts, including (a) the current development of computer-assisted language learning (CALL), (b) the current use of the integration of the learning management system into the classroom, and (c) the summary of Liu’s (2003) study.

A. The Current Development of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

Beatty (2003) defines CALL as “any process in which a learner uses a computer and, as a result, improves his or her language”(p. 7). He maintains that the development of computer technology drives the improvements of CALL. “But this progress has not been purely linear and, in terms of pedagogy, the new and improved have not always replaced the old and tired. Instead, many programs being produced today feature little more than visually stimulating variations on the same gap-filling exercises used 40 years ago”(p. 11). In addition, Beatty mentions that current CALL software is yet to show significant advantages with regards to speech synthesis and voice recognition. The author argues that the recent research in CALL has moved from “the need for computers in the classroom”(p. 13) to the analysis of the effectiveness of CALL software compared to traditional language learning, to the analysis of “special features of computer’s organization and presentation of information”, to “learner centered opportunities to explore different links or paths of inquiry”, and, finally, to “the appropriateness of multimedia models for accommodating different learners’learning styles and even gender”(p. 15). Beatty reviews relevant publications to make this comment that “CALL is now seen to be complementary to classroom activities”(p. 15). This argument supports the need of this research that more studies and applications of the integration of the innovative use of CALL in the classroom are desired.

As Kern and Warschauer (2000) indicate, the new technology not only serves the new teaching/learning paradigms, but also helps shape the new paradigms. Beatty (2003) defines the features of the computer—hypertext, hypermedia, and multimedia—as well as describes how some of their applications are different from traditional learning materials. For example, he argues that hypertext provides a different way that traditional language texts cannot do. He comments that “the development of hypertext has been associated most closely with a constructivist model of learning and aspects of schema theory”(p. 38). Beatty also talks about different language teaching approaches/methods for some computer applications and simulations.

He desires his readers to be aware that each CALL application or simulation—has its possibilities and limitations—should be used under a specifically defined instructional condition in order to foster desired learning outcomes.

In sum, current CALL practitioners are encouraged to emphasize autonomy in language learning, design learner-centered and individualized curriculum, and promote the development of communicative and linguistic competence. To use CALL to facilitate human language learning, it is suggested that the learner’s “critical needs”(the theme of the CALICO 2005 Conference) should be identified first in order to choose or design a CALL program for him/her. Bax (2003) yields (a) a need of conducting “in-depth ethnographic studies of individual environments to elucidate the relationship”(p. 27) between the computer and the users (teachers and students), and (b) a need of conducting action research “in individual environments to identify barriers to normalization and ways of overcoming them”(p. 27). This study is intended to investigate how participating students can benefit from the innovative application of the hybrid course as well as how participating teachers of Freshman English in this study can take advantage of it. It is also a kind of action research, trying to improve the current instruction of Freshman English and develop three scenarios based on Liu’s researched-tested IDT for various levels of Freshman English classes in the hybrid course of the Information Age.

B. The Current Use of the integration of the learning management system into the classroom In recent years, a number of studies (Chen, Belkada & Okamoto, 2004; Chun & Plass, 2000;

Corda & Jager, 2004; Meskill & Ranglova, 2000; Schultz, 2000; Shetzer & Warschaur, 2000;

Torii-Williams, 2004; Warschauer, 2000) have investigated the applications of computer networks in language teaching, and explored several attributes of Web-based EFL learning. Despite the capabilities of online learning found in the CALL literature, more studies are needed concerning the pedagogical development of the hybrid course targeted at teaching EFL in order to strengthen the value of application. In this section, important information regarding (a) the use of a systems approach to curriculum design process of the hybrid course, and (b) the integration of the learning management system into the classroom, are discussed as follows.

(A) The Use of a Systems Approach to Curriculum Design Process of the Hybrid Course According to Graves (2000), “course design is a system in the sense that planning for one componentwillcontributeto others;changesto onecomponentwillinfluencealltheothers”(p.

4). For example, if one changes the content of the curriculum, the objectives of the course will need to be changed to reflect the changes to the content. In a hybrid course of Freshman English, there are more components than those of a fully online course or a classroom-based course. Thus,

carefully decide the sequence of English learning activities in both the classroom and the online context to foster meaningful language development. Kazeroni (2002) comments the situation that

There is very little research on language teacher decision making processes which should be of major interest to CALL methodologists since most forms of computer-based language instruction assume that teaching and learning are uniform and non-dynamic processes given the normative nature of language learning is a social and group activity is totally overlooked (p. 100).

Kazeroni (2002) also argues that if CALL practitioners desire to bring positive influence to classroom teaching, they should mindfully consider teacher needs as well as teaching as a decision making process. This research, however, is intended to help instructors, who teach different levels of Freshman English, arrange English learning activities in a systematic way and choose appropriate methods among a set of research-based instructional guidelines with their methods, in accordance with their individual needs and the features of the level of their Freshman English courses. The whole set of instructional guidelines, which are developed according to the Liu’s (2003) revised instructional design theory after two rounds of expert review, is considered a systems approach for teaching Freshman English in the Information Age. Of course, there are elements of decision-making processes in the whole set of instructional guidelines for teachers to choose (Liu, 2003), depending upon various instructional conditions in the course and desired learning outcomes (Reigeluth, 1999).

(B) The integration of the learning management system into the Classroom

Gould (2003) argues that “the integration of hybrid course instruction will benefit both the institution and the students. Institutions will be able to maximize their available physical resources, and students will be able to maximize their potential”(p. 54). The learning management system, such as those on blackboard.com, webct.com, and ecollege.com, provides two-way synchronous and asynchronous communications tools for the instructor and the student, an online space for course materials, and an online space for students to submit their papers and projects. There are also assessment tools and resources that students can use at any time, at any place. Students still can go to the class to have face-to-face discussions and interactions with the instructor and other students. In this way, the total learning environment is expanded. However, how can one mix both the classroom and the learning management system becomes an important issue. This study would like to tackle this issue and see how the great potential of the hybrid course approach can maximize the learning effectiveness in three different levels of Freshman English classes.

In a study conducted by Chen, Belkada, & Okamoto (2004), the learning effectiveness was examined in a class of twenty Japanese college students learning English in a fully online course.

The findings indicate that (a) “the modes of communication (negotiation via inter-personal or intra-personal tasks) were equally effective in promoting listening comprehension and L2 development”(p. 47), and (b) “there is no data revealing that negotiation of meaning facilitates comprehension and production”(p. 47) in an online environment. They make a conclusion that

“although learning language through communication has been proven to be successful in face-to-face language learning situations for facilitating the restructuring of the student’s

linguistic knowledge, it is not yet been successfully transferred to the new educational environment, the Web”(p. 47). Of course, they argue that there is still a lot of room for improvement of transferring the successful face-to-face language learning experiences to the fully Web-based context. However, it also means that at this moment, the integration of the learning management system into the classroom is a safe way to do. In this way, some problems of the fully online course can be solved by taking advantage of the face-to-face classroom environment.

This is indeed the intention of this study.

C. The Summary of Liu’s (2003) Study

To provide the reader of this research important information regarding Liu’s (2003) instructional design theory for teaching Freshman English in the hybrid course in Taiwan, the following is adapted from the conclusions section in chapter 6 “(The Revised Version of the Theory, Limitations, Recommendations and Conclusions) of Liu’s (2003) doctoral dissertation.

The purpose of this study was to develop a tentative theory that should be applicable to current and cutting-edge reality for teaching EFL to first-year undergraduate students in a hybrid Web-based instruction course (combining both classroom and online contexts) in Taiwan. This study utilized the broad framework of instructional design theory (Reigeluth, 1999) to develop tentative guidelines for teaching EFL in a hybrid WBI course, and used the formative research methodology (Reigeluth & Frick, 1999) to collect and analyze data to refine the guidelines in the theory. Liu (2003) developed tentative guidelines that can be applied to both the classroom and a learning platform on the Internet for teaching Freshman English in Taiwan. These tentative guidelines were critically reviewed by four American and one Taiwanese expert-practitioners in the TEFL and TESL fields. The tentative guidelines in this study have been theoretically validated through one round of expert review. This study examined the possibilities of designing EFL instruction in a hybrid Web-based instruction environment and of integrating the four language skills with a communicative focus in various teaching agendas. This is a new trial of combining both the perspective of language skills and more integrative, communicative language use with technology imbedded in the learning contexts. This study used Omaggio-Hadley (2001) to combine the instruction of skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) into integrative, communicative language use through the provision of integrated instructor guidelines in this study. The IDT applied the three communicative modes —“the interpretive mode,”“the presentational mode,”and “the interpersonal mode”(NSFLLP, 1996)—to develop tentative guidelines for teaching Freshman English using the intermediate level of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines.

In addition, this IDT focuses on appropriate scaffolding with informative feedback in the EFL instruction, and on the active role of students and the guiding, facilitating role of instructors.

Both ideas pay attention to the needs of “learning”in the new paradigm of instruction in the information age. In this IDT, learning is placed above teaching. In this way, therefore, Taiwanese EFL students can explore and construct their English knowledge and skills, as well as develop their communicative competence actively. At the same time, the instructor should pay more attention to the effective and efficient design of EFL learning for students, as well as to update himself/herself with the latest language teaching ideas and available technology. Further, this IDT

as a combined application of integrative Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and classroom instruction at Taiwanese universities designed to improve the current educational situation of TEFL. This IDT is a kind of network-based language teaching (Kern & Warschauer, 2000) that focuses on interpersonal communication by using networked computers. In addition, the IDT demonstrates what Warschauer and Healey (1998) maintain: that the use of CLT has shifted to a socio-cognitive view that emphasizes real language use in meaningful social contexts.

As Huang (1998) points out, Taiwanese non-English-major college students desire more class hours and opportunities for listening and speaking in EFL curricula. So EFL instructors in Taiwan need to positively react to the voice of students by providing balanced, sound EFL instruction that utilizes both classroom and online contexts for freshman students to learn their English in the global village of the Internet.

From the reviewed literature, it is found that there is little research-based instructional design theory/model and its practices available to EFL instructors and help them facilitate college freshmen’English learning in the hybrid course in Taiwan. Kern and Warschauer (2000) observe that there has been relatively little published research exploring the relationship between the use of computer networks and language learning as well as teaching. Bax (2003) yields (a) a need of conducting “in-depth ethnographic studies of individual environments to elucidate the

relationship”(p. 27) between the computer and the users (teachers and students), and (b) a need of conducting action research “in individual environments to identify barriers to normalization and ways of overcoming them”(p. 27). This study investigated how participating students could benefit from the innovative application of the hybrid course as well as how participating teachers of Freshman English in this study can take advantage it. This research is also a kind of action research, trying to improve the current instruction of Freshman English and develop three

scenarios based on Liu’s researched-tested IDT for various levels of Freshman English classes in the hybrid course of the Information Age.

4. The Research Method

A. Research Questions of This Study

The researcher sought to address the following five questions for this study:

(1) What are the further refinement and applications after the two rounds of expert review of Liu’s instructional design theory (IDT) for teaching Freshman English at a university under the following conditions?

 Reading, writing, listening, and speaking

 The low level of Freshman English class, the mid level of Freshman English class, and the high level of Freshman English class, respectively

 A hybrid course approach for teaching English using both the classroom and the learning platform on the Internet

 25-30 students appropriate for a course designed for the class discussions, and for asynchronous collaboration on the Internet

(2) Is the participating students’overall English achievement of three different levels of Freshman English in hybrid courses better than those of the same levels in traditional Freshman English courses with the same instructional objectives? If so, how is the result?

(3) How do the three participating teachers of Freshman English in this study think about the

applications of the hybrid course in accordance with the revised Liu’s IDT?

(4) How do students of three different levels of Freshman English courses in this study think about the applications of the hybrid course in accordance with the revised Liu’s IDT?

(5) What are the challenges and issues when teaching the three different levels of Freshman English in the hybrid course which are developed in accordance with the revised Liu’s IDT?

B. Research Design of This Study

This research focused on three parts: (a) developing three instructional practices (scenarios) for teaching EFL to first-year undergraduate students in three different levels—A, B, C (high, mid, and low)—of Freshman English in hybrid courses at a comprehensive university in southern Taiwan, (b) implementing the three instructional practices in three levels of Freshman English classes, which was taught by three teachers, and (c) evaluating the effectiveness, construct validity, and generalizability of the three instructional practices based on the refined Liu’s instructional design theory for teaching Freshman English in the hybrid course. The formative research methodology (Reigeluth & Frick, 1999) was applied in this study to refine the instructional applications based on the collected data. In addition, the action research were applied to strengthen the methodological procedure and construct validity of the study.

C. Methodological Procedures

There were three phases for the principal investigator and the three participating instructors of Freshman English to work together to complete this study. They needed to (a) develop English learning activities as an instructional application in accordance with Liu’s refined instructional guidelines for teaching Freshman English in the hybrid course (see Appendix A, B, and C), (b) implement the instructional application into their Freshman English classes for the whole academic year 2005-2006, and (c) evaluate the use of the instructional application after each of the two semesters. Each phase is described as follows.

(A) Develop the Instructional Application of Freshman English in the Hybrid Course

Design in curriculum refers to what “shape and direction” that teachers or instructional designers want their courses to be (Ko & Rossen, 2001). Designing a hybrid course for teaching a subject might involve the consideration of design and arrangement of instructional goals, textbooks, resources, methods, techniques, assignments, exams, and learning activities in the classroom and online contexts. The three participating teachers of the three different levels of Freshman English courses in this study were asked to (a) attend a brief workshop conducted by the principal investigator in the beginning of the semester in 2005-2006, and (b) adopt some of the main instructional guidelines of Liu’s refined instructional design theory (see Appendix C) to develop their own instructional applications, reflecting the needs and features of their own levels of Freshman English classes. The three teachers developed their Freshman English curricula based on the materials offered by the researcher.

In the introduction session of the study, the principal investigator informed the three teachers of the design models and the revised guidelines with their methods and components, and the course design process of the hybrid course. For designing a hybrid course for teaching EFL to Taiwanese freshmen, the seven stages of design process (Liu, 2004) are as follows.

1. Identify or choose an appropriate proficiency level for a Freshman English class (ACTFL, 1986).

2. Identify instructional objectives for the course.

3. Identify the strengths of teaching English in a classroom learning environment and an online environment based on the available resources, respectively.

4. Identify available resources for designing a hybrid course. A hybrid course is comprised of both classroom and Internet-based learning contexts.

5. Use an existing learning platform on the Internet or create a Web site for asynchronous and synchronous communications.

6. Design or select appropriate textbooks and resources for the course.

7. Apply the identified strengths as a basis to design learning activities and tasks in both classroom learning context and Web-based context by using the instructional guidelines of the IDT.

In the development (planning) stage, just like the action research (Beatty, 2003) suggests, the three teachers should figure out a way to improve the current learning condition or promote more language use and communication in the hybrid course. In the curriculum development process, the principal investigator provided a brief workshop and consultation to the participating teachers, and the three teachers were encouraged to be open-minded to adjusting the lessons and learning activities, depending upon the needs and features of the level of Freshman English classes. In the implementation (the acting stage in the action research) stage, the three teachers were expected to put what they had developed into practice. The information regarding the

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