having the opportunity to reflect on their data as part of developing their presentations was helpful for the writing stage, and it was encouraging to hear other teachers comment on the importance of their topics
Reflection is always a key part in research and it helps to have a second set of eyes/ears.
For logistical reasons, the teachers were paid for six hours per week from March to December for their participation, rather than being given systematic release time from their schedules
I definitely think these teachers need some incentive to participate, as working full time and conducting research for a study would be difficult. One would definitely be favored unless they felt compensated for both.
Te Facilitator would also be in contact as required with the teachers to guide the focus and progress of their research and the design of data tools, and to make suggestions about data analysis and resources from the literature
It is important that the teachers have someone with action research experience to guide them along the process.
During the MAFLT program, I always found it helpful when my professors would offer suggestions for further research articles/studies, since I am not an experienced researcher.
Action research offers a form of systematic inquiry that is usually appealing to teachers as it enables a focus on areas of their own practice that they consider worth investigating
Action research allows teachers to investigate an area in their own teaching practice that they are interested in.
he technology-related issues of language assessment will continue to increase in their detail and complexity, and the need will continue to grow for professionals capable of negotiating the many considerations that come into play in the design of computer-assisted language tests
Technology is constantly changing; it will be difficult to have research results that can last for a lengthy period of time, as software and student perceptions are always changing.
he main challenge with this system, however, is test item security. Because of the likelihood of cheating, the authors advised against using this system for high-stakes testing.
This is my biggest concern when using online assessments.
The authors demonstrated that the process of developing meaningful criteria and scoring rubrics requires the teachers to specify what they are hoping to see in the students’ contributions. In their study, this process resulted in the need to define the constructs of interaction, reflection, language complexity, and task purpose. Doing so increased teachers’ understanding of their own goals in having students participate in online discussion.
In my online course design, this is something I would definitely make sure to include. Rather than just making sure the students comment on each other's posts/videos, they must comment with valuable feedback/comments.
Students preferred a combination of automated scoring on early drafts followed by human feedback later in the writing process.
This further supports my belief that we can use online feedback for simple corrections, but students still need teacher feedback for overall growth.
more general issues of global composition
This is definitely where a teacher comes into play. They can help students craft their whole composition and improve it as a whole.
One challenge, however, is to develop proofing tools that are sophisticated enough to provide useful feedback to different levels of English language learners
I wonder if we will ever get online tools that are able to accurately proof with 100% fluency and understanding of the text. Now, they do an incredible job, and I've seen great improvement over the years, but they don't always understand the context of the word/sentence.
She concluded, “the general trends found in these studies indicate that comprehension of computer-presented texts is, at best, as good as that of printed texts, and that reading speed may or may not be affected by mode of presentation” (p. 49)
Computer vs. printed text comprehension is not affected and reading speed may/may not be affected.
I personally know that I comprehend texts better when they are printed, but I think as students rely more and more on tech, they will grow accustomed to reading and comprehending computer-presented texts.
the adaptivity results in each student being presented with tasks appropriate to his or her level
I do think this is a great benefit to online language learning tools. The software can even review the same material over and over that the individual is not understanding.
the benefits of online testing should overcome any of its drawbacks, as it can be faster, more efficient, and less costly than traditional paper-and-pencil testing
In some aspects, I agree, such as speed/efficiency, but I also disagree, especially when it comes to the type of test given (communicative vs. grammar-based). I think it is easier for students to see the practical use of the language when the assessment is communicative in nature.
grammar-translation and audiolingual-type activities
These two methods are the ones I use least in my teaching methods, which is why I think Duolingo is not as effective as it could be.
Another explanation for the low test scores could be the target language itself. None of theparticipants had previous knowledge of Turkish;
While this is a valid point, students taking the in-person class most likely have never taken Turkish before either.
Most notably, however, even after 34 hours of study, only one participant received a score that would be considered a passing grade in theuniversity ’ s first semester Turkish course. These results call into question Vesselinov andGrego ’ s (2012) claims regarding Duolingo ’ s efficacy
When looking at what Duolingo lacks in comparison to an actual classroom, I would say authenticity, motivation, real tasks, and variety of tasks.
I was a bitworried if I would do better than my last quiz because I took several days off from study
This seems to be a common theme - taking a few days off here and there. With a regularly scheduled in-person class, this doesn't happen as often and students receive frequent language exposure.
there was generally a decrease in motivation as they progressed towards their 34 hours of use.
I've noticed for the literature review I'm completing with my group that to keep student motivation high, the task and audience need to be authentic. With Duolingo, there is nothing authentic about it.
However, the level of achievement for all but one participant fell short of the 70% criterionfor mastery in a university Turkish 151 course
And previously in the study, it was mentioned that most students pass the Turkish 151 course (in-person) with a 90% on the exam
a trend is apparent: participants were relatively more successful on parts of the testdealing with written language (writing, reading, and lexicogrammar) and less successful on partsfeaturing oral language
Oral skills were weaker for these students. I am not surprised by this
To address the experiences of ab initio language learners using Duolingo, journals were themati-cally coded to identify themes that highlighted similarities and differences across participants ’ Duolingo usage
I remember doing this in the Culture class and found it to be very useful exercise, and this will gather great qualitative data to see how students reacted to Duolingo
only a small percentageindicated that they used features for interacting with other language learners.
Without interaction, how are they really using the language?
For example, Lord(2015) reported no performance differences on standardized test scores between learners partici-pating in an in-person first semester Spanish course and beginner users of Rosetta Stone (45 hours).However, Lord noted differences between the groups during oral interview tasks, with Rosetta Stoneusers more frequently relying on English to resolve communicative difficulties.
I would expect these results. I believe face-to-face is the only true way to learn a language. MALL can serve as a supplemental tool but cannot be the only way you learn a language
Consequently, learners can study anytime and anywhere, and their study materials are available across devices
Common aspects of MALL
One specific area of significant growth is mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) in which learners use mobile technology toengage in language study
MALL has been seeing significant growth in the past few years
participants' collaborative spirit and skills
Some games do lead to collaboration and I think that is great. When we play Quizlet Live students are really forced to work together.
posting gameplay advice in online forums
Chats and forums are a great addition to these games as long as students stay in the TL
self-developed English learning game helped elementary school students e ff ectively acquire vocabulary items
I remember to this day, many of the computer games I played in elementary school. I remember how fun they were and how much we all enjoyed them. I think that for this age group, online games are great! I teach high school now and while my kids do love games I don't think they have as much of an impact as with younger students.
the fun factor was one commonly cited reason for this across such works
Students view these games as "fun" which is obvious to me, but I personally don't have access to many games other than online quizzes, and I don't see them as having as many benefits as other communicative tasks.
digital games were most frequently implemented to foster the language learning of L2 learners with mixedpro ciency levels,
This is a great way to incorporate differentiation in the classroom, especially with games that students can progress at their own pace.
However, this reviewindicates a growing trend of utilizing mobile devices for delivering games
My students have access to chromebooks, but generally when I play games in class (Quizlet/Kahoot) my students just use their phone
DGBLL researchers tend to use custom-built games through which they canmore exibly align the gaming goals with the learning objectives
This is probably best for teachers to have the game align with curriculum and objectives, but I don't know how practical this really is.
immersive games (21 studies) were by far the most popular genre
Immersive games are the most popular - this includes role-playing and 3D environments
nto six main categories: language acquisition,knowledge acquisition, contemporary competences, participatory behaviors, a ff ective or psychological states, and correlationaloutcomes.
6 different learning categories - I think these are a wide range of categories which show the great value in game based learning
assumed bene ts based on various language acquisition theories, such asimmersive exposure to the language learning environment, lowered anxiety and other a ff ective barriers to language learning, andincreased use of the target language for interaction in gaming
Benefits of using games for language learning. Immersive exposure - I don't usually see this feature in games I have played with my students. I usually see more grammar/vocab drills when playing online games
as a playful activity that is structured by rules for the pursuit of quanti able outcomes (e.g., win states and points), andincorporates educational objectives (e.g., knowledge acquisition) as its own end.
Definition for a learning game: combo of quantifiable outcome and educational objectives
The majorityof DGBLL studies featured positive outcomes in regard to student learning, with the most fre-quently reported ones being related to a ff ective or psychological states, closely followed bylanguage acquisition.
DGBLL = positive results for psychological state and language acquisition
To a certain extent these factors are also applicable to the types of resistance found towards new pedagogies such as task-based learning
A lot of it comes down to the district and administration who has the main say over large technological decisions. But teachers can do a lot within their own classroom.
asks in a classroom environment thus encourage learners to engage in processes such as ‘top-down and bottom-up processing, noticing, negotiating meaning, lexicalized and rule-based production, scaffolded production, private speech, and negotiating form’ (ibid).
How tasks help cognitive processes
in that while they provide opportunities for communication they cannot be said to reflect real-world communicative interaction (Widdowson, 2001
This is something I can agree/disagree with. In a classroom setting, it may be our only way to reflect real-world communicative interaction, so it is the best we can do with constraints of 4 walls.
Through the use of blogs and other communication tools, they demonstrate an emotional and intellectual openness to other
Anonymity helps them to be more emotional and express their personal thoughts
he net generation demonstrates a strong propensity for independence, being able to search for and access information that is required by them.
I do notice that students like to work independently on the computer. They have a sense of independence and skills that allow this to function best
focus on tasks leads to a too restrictive and functional approach;
This is one criticism that I can agree with. Sometimes students become so involved in the task at hand that they can't see the bigger picture - the 'why' behind the task and how it will help them
In this context, Deutschmann is emphasising that teachers need to be more aware of the different expectations of the learners in the group in order to achieve appropriate learning outcomes arising from the task
When thinking about a needs analysis, think about each students' expectations to help create learning outcomes
he use oftechnology-mediated tasks in instructed environments must also acknowledge the potential for technical problems
Always have a backup plan in case the technology isn't working!
Her decision-making process was based on an analysis of her students’ need
Every teacher should be thinking about their individual students' needs and the purpose/objective of the lesson or class when thinking about what tasks and tech to incorporate
and are using them in their everyday lives; they are also increasingly possible in education institutions.
Skype and similar tools are popular in personal lives and can be in school too
sociocultural reality, and the need to recognise the social needs and identities that come with each individual learne
sociocultural theory: needs and identities of each learner
318frequently used keyword identifier in their corpus of major CALL research between 1999 and 2005
This is interesting! Tasks and technology go hand-in-hand.
TBLT is currently being advocated as the replacement for communicative language teaching
TBLT is gaining popularity and becoming one of the main methods for LT
These promising fi ndings suggest that gesture plays an important role in interaction and may help to explain the trend in favor of FTF contexts for the development of oral skills
FTF is best for development of oral skills
Another possible explanation for the advantage of FTF contexts for the development of learners’ oral skills is gesture.
Being able to see the other person has multiple benefits - you can see their gestures and non-verbal cues.
The majority of studies occurred in a classroom-based environment ( k = 10; 71%), with only four of the studies (29%) in the sample taking place in a laboratory context
Definitely more applicable for me - and most of the previous research has been in laboratory settings
fi ndings demonstrating that lexical items seem to lead to more instances of negotiation than grammatical items
CMC research found that feedback on lexical items led to more instances of negotiation than grammatical items - leads to greater interaction!
TBLT in FTF and technology-mediated environments, with some fi ndings demonstrating greater performance in FTF inter-action over computer-mediated environments
With TBLT, this makes me believe that a hybrid of FTF and CMC would be best
the interaction approach posits that exposure to linguistic information (as input), opportunities for language production (as output), and positive and negative feedback on learners’ production (through interaction) are constructs critical to understanding L2 learning
Interaction Approach = input + output + positive/negative feedback
The growing body of research examining CMC and interaction suggests positive benefi ts within technology-supported environments
CMC and interaction have positive benefits - this article gives a lit review of examples supporting this research
Este proyecto le permitiría a más de un millón de jóvenes vivir legal y permanente en los Estados Unidos si llegaron al país antes de cumplir los 18 años. Pero antes, deben pasar por unos controles de seguridad y cumplir con otras condiciones, como inscribirse en la universidad, unirse al ejército o encontrar trabajo.
¿Bajo cuáles condiciones puede un joven ser protegido de DACA?
La administración Obama creó el programa DACA en el 2012 como una solución a corto plazo mientras luchaba para cambiar las leyes de inmigración en el Congreso, lo que no se pudo hacer.
Noten: Obama creó DACA como una solución a CORTO plazo.
Trump ha expresado repetidamente su simpatía por los jóvenes protegidos por el programa. Ha descrito la decisión como una de las más difíciles que ha tenido que tomar como presidente.
¿Fue una decisión fácil para Trump y el gobierno? ¿Por qué?
"No nos equivoquemos, ¡vamos a poner el interés de los CIUDADANOS ESTADOUNIDENSES EN PRIMER LUGAR!", añadió Trump en un segundo tuit. "Los hombres y mujeres olvidados ya no volverán a quedar en el olvido”.
¿Por qué decidió terminar DACA? ¿Quién es afectado cuando DACA existe?
"inconstitucional"
¿Por qué el gobierno insiste en que DACA es "inconstitucional"?
Recording classroom activities is also important for learners to reflect on their own learning experience, evaluate their performance, and get a clearer overview of their learning progress
Video recordings can also be used for student reflection on their own work.
Video recording of the classroom lessons enables teachers to reflecton their teaching [20].
Teachers can use video recording to watch their lessons and reflect on their performance.
collaborative learning is a key aspect underlying most of the studies.
Collaborative learning is a common teaching method among many of the studies
Annotation and authoring tools are the most used design tools in the reviewed VBL literature
Annotation and authoring tools: most used design tools reviewed
here was, however, an agreement among researchers that VBL in conjunction with appropriate pedagogical methods has the potential to improve the learning outcome
The results from Effectiveness of Learning Outcomes were mixed. However, most agreed that a more blended learning environment is more effective.
Most of the reviewed case studies asserted the effectiveness of VBL as a powerful medium used in education.
Most studies found VBL to be effective - this study will analyze the effectiveness in terms of: learning outcome, interaction, and learners' satisfaction.
Cognitive mapping approach is a method enabling the researchers to clarify and categorize the research literature conceptions into several dimensions regarding to the research questions.
This study used a cognitive mapping approach, setting it apart from other studies, so it could categorize research into different dimensions.
Thirdly, a set of selection criteria were identified as follows
The four criteria listed below are how the studies were selected to be included in this study.
As compared to the above studies, our study adds a wide range of peer-reviewed studies that have been conducted between 2003 and 2013 and provides a quantitative as well as qualitative analysis of the VBL literature.
This study will provide both a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the literature - adding wider range to the value of this study.