Teaching with Technology

Blog 5

Distance learning as a means of language teaching is not a concept that has been widely embraced by language teachers. However, as reported in Blake et al’s article, Measuring oral proficiency in distance, face-to-face, and blended classrooms, there are situations where distance learning or a hybrid course that blends both distance and face-to-face learning can provide educational opportunities that would not exist otherwise. For example, distance learning makes it possible for students to study less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) such as those cited in this article, Farsi, Arabic and Punjabi. The question becomes: how well do distance and hybrid classes serve students in comparison to face-to-face offerings?  According to a study of a “first year language course offered at the University of California – Davis in both hybrid and distance-learning formats” p. 114, second “language learners reach comparable levels of oral proficiency during their first year of study”.

To assist students, in computer delivered classes, they participated in synchronous live chat sessions and worked with materials from CD-ROMS, DVDs and the course website.   The authors discussed the likelihood that some of the distance and hybrid learning environments success is due to the students self selecting a learning environment that is conducive to a particular learning style and that this individualistic, self-paced style is not necessarily one that could be applied, as successfully, to all students.

The researchers assessed the level of oral proficiency students achieved in the various venues via a 20 minute test called Versant for Spanish that was administered over the phone and “scored automatically by means of speech recognition and parser software” p. 116. The software measures a student’s, “sentence mastery, pronunciation, and fluency” p. 118.

It is illuminating that distance learning can provide comparable results for first year students as this type of delivery system opens up educational possibilities to learners of LCTLs and possibly others. Although, as the researchers noted, these results may not apply beyond students who self selected a computer delivered learning environment. The issue of computer delivered learning to achieve parity on a broader scale has yet to be determined. However, an area that, I believe, has immediate broad scale possibilities is the use of computerized based assessment systems like the one offered by Versant for Spanish.

 Because much of teaching is tied to what can be measured in an assessment, computerized testing that can assess a student’s speaking abilities hold tremendous promise for language learners and teachers. Practice speaking a language is a crucial part to learning a language and yet this essential skill can be underserved by teachers because it is difficult and time consuming for teachers to assess. The implications of software that can assess oral proficiency according to the standards established by the language teaching community are profound.  The Fairfax County Public Schools system is unusual because it conducts assessments of high school students’ speaking abilities and therefore teaching these skills is an essential part of their language curriculum. This is not the case for many school systems which still emphasis rote and grammar based curriculums that can quickly and easily assess student learning with multiple choice, reading, and written language tests.

If speech can be accurately assessed by various software packages, the likelihood that more schools will use this quick and easy method of assessment increases and with it the probability that curriculums on a broader scale will increase their focus on language speaking , an essential and up until now often underutilized area of language learning.

Blake, R., et al, (October 2008). Measuring oral proficiency in distance, face-to-face, and blended classrooms, Language Learning & Technology, (12) 3,  114-127. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/vol12num3/blakeetal.pdf