TASK 2: Vocabulary Acquisition via CALL

1.0 Introduction

Rapid development in information technology has resulted in fast advances in almost every aspect of our life and this includes in the application of instructional and educational technology. In modern era, teaching does not require good teachers only as efficient multimedia materials are also needed badly.  The needs of learners who come from different backgrounds can be met by the use of effective materials in teaching. Multimedia materials are also a big help when it comes to second language teaching. One of the benefits is that computer-assisted language learning (CALL) programs offers is multimedia makes it possible for students to learn vocabulary. To learn about the effects of the use of videos in learning second language vocabulary, five articles regarding the topic were studied. The articles are as follows:

1.    English Learners’ Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition in the Video-based Call Program English Learners’ Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition in the Video-based Call Program by Lu Fang Lin (2010).

2.    The Effects of CALL Program on Expanding Knowledge of EFL Iranian Intermediate Learners by Zargham Ghabanchi and Mojgan Anbarestani (2008).

3.    Teaching Vocabulary to EFL College Students Online by Reima Al-Jarf (2007).

4.    Teaching Vocabulary through Music by Dagmar Šyšková (2008).

5.    Improving Students’ Vocabulary through Computer Media (ATM 5 Programme) by Sulistiyani (2010).

2.0      The Review of the Articles

            All articles are focusing on the same scope, which is to investigate the effectiveness of CALL in acquiring English vocabulary. Sulistiyani (2010) stated in her article that having a clear idea of learning a language can help to motivate students in their studies. So, she used the Nature of Vocabulary theory which was created in 2002 by Chris Gough, and it emphasizes on four different ways in thinking about words. The four ways are meaning, pronunciation, collocation, and expressions.  However, looking at a larger picture of vocabulary acquisition, it is safe to say that all the researchers are trying to prove the validity of Dual-coding Theory, created by Paivio in 1986. This theory emphasized on learning words through what we see. By providing the learners with videos or pictures, it will help them to create mental pictures whenever they come across the same words.

            The studies have many objectives to be achieved. For each research, at least two main objectives are being highlighted by the writer. For example, Ghabanchi and Anbarestani (2008), came out with the objectives of operationalize post-modern theoretical thinking about vocabulary learning and to create an environment which is maximally conducive to learning new words by striking a balance between lacking enough time for exposure to new words and a sort of exposure which doesn’t fail to establish enough association with other words for storage and retrieval. However, some of the articles focused on the same major objective, which is to investigate the effect of CALL on learners’ vocabulary acquisition. For example, the studies done by Lu-Fang Lin and Reima Al-Jarf have this similarity.

As for the research questions, the researchers came up with at least two research questions for their research. There are some variations in their research questions, depending on the instruments and the methodology used.  However, the most popular question would be about investigating the effects of using CALL towards the students’ vocabulary acquisition. There is also researcher that tries to look at the effects of learning vocabulary via CALL towards the students’ attitude in classroom. For example, Al-Jarf (2007) in her study came out with this question; Does online instruction have any positive effects on students’ attitudes towards vocabulary learning? Some are even comparing the effectiveness of CALL with the traditional method of using written texts and textbooks.

Like we all know, teaching vocabulary via CALL is not limited to one instrument and methodology only. Different researcher uses different instruments and methodology. For example, researcher Lu-Fang Lin used video clips as her instrument, while Dagmar Šyšková used songs to study the effectiveness of CALL. However, the same pattern in using pre- and post-test is spotted in these research articles. The researchers used them in order to measure how much progress has been made by the students throughout the research that they carried out. At the same time, statistical data are more concrete and valid in presenting the results. As for the data collection procedure, the process of collecting data takes a long time as the researchers are performing the study in many stages.

Samples that have been used in these five studies vary from school students, up to college students. The similarities would be that all of them have background knowledge in English, whether as their second language, or foreign language. For the college and university students, all of them are taking English courses at their respective institute. Choosing samples that have background knowledge in English is very important in order for the researchers to see the results clearer. Having samples that are taking English subjects and courses in their study is also important for the researchers to help the samples to see the benefits of the researches, and at the same time improves their knowledge in the language itself.

The researches managed to come out with positive findings as all of them showed that CALL does have positive effects not only on the students’ vocabulary acquisition, but also their attitudes towards vocabulary learning. According to Al-Jarf (2007),

“All the students found the online vocabulary course useful and fun, and considered it a new way of leaning English vocabulary and doing homework. It heightened their motivation and raised their self-esteem. It created a warm climate between the students and instructor and among the students themselves”.

Another example of positive findings spotted in one of the article is in contextualized situations, CALL is a better tool for learning lexicon (Ghabanchi & Anbarestani, 2008).

            All articles concluded that CALL has provided a new dimension in language teaching and it brings positive effects, not only on learning process, but also teaching process. However, further researches are needed in order to fully understand the effects of CALL on language learning. For instance, the effect of vocabulary instruction delivered fully online using course materials and quizzes designed by the instructor is still open for further investigation (Al-Jarf, 2007). All questions that needed answers were answered by the researchers at the end of their study, proving that their study has achieved the goals that they have set earlier.

3.0      Personal Reactions

            In order for learners to learn English better, they need to have the fundamentals first, and having good vocabulary is one of them. CALL is said to have positive effects on the learners’ vocabulary acquisition. There are many people who are starting acknowledging this fact and more studies regarding the field are being produced each year. As a future English teacher, this topic plays a significant role in preparing me for the education world, and at the same time helping me to understand more about English teaching. According to Lin (2010), technological advancements have deeply affected the methodology of education in general and foreign/second language in particular in which computers are at heart of this process. Studying the effects of CALL on vocabulary acquisition is not only fun, but it is also informational as there is variety of CALL instruments involved. Some may choose to study on the effects of video-based program on learners’ vocabulary acquisition and some may choose songs. This field is very wide and it gives readers a lot of useful information.

            The articles studied for this task have been very useful. Some are well-organized and some are not. For example, the article written by Dagmar Šyšková is quite confusing as the writer did not arrange the article according to the usual format. As for the article written by Sulistiyani, errors in spelling keep occurring. However, the information within the articles is more important to me.

4.0      Conclusion

            English is growing to be more and more important in this country each day. The country is going after the globalization in order to compete with the developed country. Malaysia is working hard in achieving the Vision 2020, and English plays an important role in making it a reality.

            The government has invested billions of ringgit in improving the country’s education standard. Infrastructures are being improved each year to help the government to produce world-class citizens. Teachers and students are being provided with computers and laptops as the government realized that CALL is growing to become more important in education field. However, the limited knowledge of teachers in CALL has been one of the reasons why we are still behind. Training should be provided to improve the quality of the teachers in this country in order to make them see for themselves the benefits of CALL in teaching.

            As for students, their mastery in the second language, which happens to be English, is still below satisfactory level. Their lack of vocabulary is one of the contributors to this. English teachers in Malaysia tend to give focus on other components and skills, such as reading, listening, literature, etc. without even realizing that the students are very weak in their vocabulary acquisition. So, by realizing this, the teachers will be helping the students in understanding English better as having good vocabulary level is very important in mastering languages in the world.

            By applying CALL into vocabulary learning, it could improve students’ ability to memorize words because multimedia transmitting information through auditory and visual modalities attracted learners’ attention, and accordingly improve their word retention (Hu & Deng, 2007, as cited in Lin, 2010).

References

Al-Jarf, R. (2007). Teaching Vocabulary to EFL College Students Online. CALL-EJ Online, Vol.8 No.2. Retrieved on February 20^th, 2011 from http://callej.org/journal/8-2/al-jarf.html

Ghabanchi, Z., & Anbarestani, M. (2008). The Effects of CALL Program on Expanding Knowledge of EFL Iranian Intermediate Learners. The Reading Matrix, Vol.8 (2), 86-95. Retrieved on February 20^th, 2011 from http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/ghabanchin-anbarestani/article.pdf

Lin, L. (2010). English Learners’ Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition in the Video-based Call Program English Learners’ Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition in the Video-based Call Program. Asian EFL Journal, Vol.12 (4). Retrieved on February 21^st, 2011 from                                                            http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/PDF/Volume-12-Issue-4-Lin.pdf

Sulistiyani (2010). Improving Students’ Vocabulary through Computer Media (ATM 5 Programme). Retrieved on February 21^st, 2011 from                        http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:wTOwxCoe8lUJ:bimbingan.pbworks.com/f/OUTLINE%2BSKRIPSI.doc+IMPROVING+STUDENTS`+VOCABULARY+THROUGH+COMPUTER+MEDIA+(ATM+5+PROGRAMME)&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgF9D9BehW-K3VzZJwG1EYOkVZ4Pa9ivI4gJeVB9Kjov8Icbfi3r4ku9hAfR9Iszf7uQVqCsiurMmMxLNU--AtW5d5usjOTuEe-Jjp9Kx_fSF1pbA141w71sHUDNIhws-Fmj861&sig=AHIEtbQvf7g3Acszq-zSIT4lRDL6C_84qA

Šyšková, D. (2008). Teaching Vocabulary through Music. Brno 2008. Retrieved on February 20^th, 2011 from http://is.muni.cz/th/237375/pedf_m/Teaching_Vocabulary_through_Music.pdf

5th Week~

in class right now..listening to Laily and Syuraini's presentation on Reading and Vocabulary learning via CALL

kinda confusing as i can grab only a few points out of their presentation

maybe i dont pay enough attention

but it seems like everyone in this class has the same facial expression as me (the what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about expression)

i'll have to do my own reading afterwards..sigh~

Promote~

my personal blog..it might not be interesting..but worth to take a peep at it :)
click here for it!

My 1st Task~

I was assigned to do this task since the first week of this semester

Managed to finish it few days back and now would like to share it with all of you who are viewing this blog of mine

so here is my evaluation of the educational website called LearnEnglish Kids constructed by the British Council

To help you to get the better picture of this evaluation, please visit the website

Do hope that this humble judgment would be useful for others in making the education world better

THANK YOU for reading!!

For this particular assignment, the British Council website was chosen to be evaluated. The website was given the name of LearnEnglish Kids and the URL for the website is http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/. The main target of the website is the children who are learning English as their second or foreign language. Kids can have fun with games, songs, stories and lots of activities and at the same time, learn English too. The activities on the site are designed for learners to do at home, on their own, with friends or with their parents.

This website is trying to teach the English language as general, without giving any special emphasize on certain field of the language. Basic skills on reading, writing, and listening are taught in the website. The site administrators are trying to instill interest within the users to learn English in a fun way. Fun learning includes songs, games, videos, and many others.

The users are expected to be learning English through all the mediums provided in the website. Some kids might have special tendency to learn second language through listening, so listening segments are provided by the administrators. The main expectation of the administrators would be the users to be able to learn English in their preferred way, and at the same time providing them with fun.

To be able to fully use all the features of the website, not much of complicated knowledge about computer is needed. The basic computer skills needed would be the skills to use and understand the features of web browser (back, forward, stop, refresh buttons etc.). Other than that, users should also have the knowledge on accessing hyperlinks and the ability to choose the best website from the search results given by the search engine.

To say that this website reminds the evaluator of his English classes or teachers would be rather difficult. This is due to the learning experiences that he had in his schooling years were mainly teacher-centered, contrasting the way this website is presented to the users. The website provides freedom to its users to choose and try any activity that they prefer, as the administrators only provide important explanations to them (rules of games, steps to perform activities, etc.). In addition, the website is filled with fun activities for its users, different from the evaluator’s English lessons, which were mainly focused on drilling, teacher’s talk, and textbook’s exercises.

One of the second language acquisition theories that can be related to the website would be the Input or Interactionist theory. This theory focuses on the importance of the language input children received from their surroundings and care-givers. Languages around the world exist for the purpose of communication and can only be learned in the context of interaction of interaction with other people and surroundings. LearnEnglish Kids plays the role of a communicative medium for the children to learn second language, as it provides them with interactive activities.

The constructivist theory is always associated with active learning, or in other words, learners learn by performing the actual activities. According to the theory, the role of the instructor is mainly as facilitator who helps the learner to learn better. For this evaluation, the website plays the role of an instructor as it provides questions, supports, gives guidelines and creates the sufficient environment for the kids to come out with their own conclusions regarding what they have learned from the website. Furthermore, LearnEnglish Kids also provides exercises that are related to real life situations, helping the students to build on their schemata.

In the evaluator’s opinion, the issue of computer being the ‘master’ or the ‘slave’ does not arise when he was evaluating the website. He sees LearnEnglish Kids as a website that plays the role of an instructor. It helps the children to learn English in a more enthusiastic attitude, more like a motivator. The website might seems like a master/teacher to the children, however, after a closer look, we can say that it looks more like a friend who is trying to work together with the learner to help him/her improves.

To use the website for future work would be a good idea. The website is really helpful for teachers who are teaching English language to the primary school students. It contains quite a number of activities, with different level of difficulties. The loading speed of every page in the website is satisfying, helping to maintain the students/learners attention in performing the activities.

Despite of all the good criteria that it has, the site can still be improved to make it better. For example, including more language games would be a huge help as games are really effective in teaching the children the second language. Other than that, the administrators could also include more activities and at the same time, raise the level of difficulty of those activities. This will attract more students from higher standards to access the website.    

My First Step~

Buzzing around looking for a blog to write the stories from my CALL class

and finally arrived at this page

so i guess i'll stay here for a while

giving you stories and anything useful regarding CALL

so, sit back and relax your brain

as you will have to do a lot of reading (i guess)