Language Learning with Technology: Perspectives from Asia

241 Pages·2021·6.857 MB·

by  Lindsay Miller, Junjie Gavin Wu

Lindsay Miller
Junjie Gavin Wu   Editors
Language
Learning
with Technology
Perspectives from Asia
Language Learning with Technology
·
Lindsay Miller Junjie Gavin Wu
Editors
Language Learning
with Technology
Perspectives from Asia
Editors
LindsayMiller JunjieGavinWu
DepartmentofEnglish SchoolofForeignLanguages
CityUniversityofHongKong ShenzhenTechnologyUniversity
HongKong,HongKong Shenzhen,China
ISBN978-981-16-2696-8 ISBN978-981-16-2697-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2697-5
©SpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.2021
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof
thematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,
broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformation
storageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology
nowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication
doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant
protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbook
arebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor
theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany
errorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictional
claimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721,
Singapore
Preface
Language Learning with Technology: Perspectives from Asia is a collection of
academic articles and case studies which deals with both theories and practices
intheapplicationoftechnology inlanguage education.Theinvitedauthorsareall
experiencedresearchersandteachersandareknowninthefieldoflanguagelearning
with technology. The chapters and case studies showcase the way ahead for other
researchers and teachers who wish to implement and/or research the use of tech-
nologywiththeirstudents.Thebookisnotonlyaboutwhattypesoftechnologyare
currentlybeingusedinthelanguageclassroom,buthowthetechnologyisintegrated
withlanguagepedagogyandcontentknowledge.Therefore,thereisastrongfocus
on pedagogy throughout the book. Another feature of the book is the inclusion of
students’andteachers’voices.Inmanyofthechapterstheauthorsturntotheirpartic-
ipantstofindoutwhattheythinkoflearningorteachingwithtechnology.Although
the responses are mostly positive, there are still areas where task design or course
developmentneedimproving.
Parts I and II of the book illustrate what might be considered examples of the
normalizationoftechnologyinlanguageeducation,thatis,thestagewhereteachers
andlearnerscometoexpectthatsometechnologywillbeusedaspartoftheircourses,
forexample,therelianceonPowerPointintheclassroomthesedays.Then,inPart
III, we offer several chapters and case studies, which present the latest theories
andpracticesinusingmoreadvancedtechnologiesforlanguageeducation:Virtual
Reality,AugmentedReality,ArtificialIntelligence,andeye-trackingtechnology.
ThefocusofthisbookisonAsiaandAsianstudents.Thisisbecausealthough
technologyisadvancingwithspeedandmost,ifnotall,studentsarealreadyusing
technologyintheirsociallives,weareawarethattraditionalteachingpractices,which
donotincludetheuseoftechnology,continuetobeusedinmanyAsianclassrooms.
This situation causes friction with language education pedagogy not keeping pace
with the needs and wants to twenty-first-century learners. By way of the chapters
andcasestudiesinthisvolume,weillustratehowteacherscan,andperhapsshould,
be more open to integrating some form of technology either as a part of in-class
learning,orasasupplementforout-of-classactivities.
Part I of this book contains five chapters. The opening chapter is by Agnes
Kukulska-Hulme and presents an overview of the state of play with technology
v
vi Preface
andeducationingeneralaswellasinlanguagelearning.Inthischapter,Kukulska-
HulmeusesReflection,Inquiry,Rehearsal,Outcomesasawaytoframeherdiscus-
sionandshementionsmanyofthethemesthatarerelevanttotherestofthebook:
local vs global, evidence-based practices, potentials for using technology, sharing
ofinformation,learnerdiversityandtheneedtoengagewithtechnologyforfuture
teachingandlearning.Followingonfromthis,thenextfourchaptersarepresented
asfullresearcharticles.Thefirstthreechaptersillustrateusingtechnologyin-class,
betweenclassandoutsidepractices,andusingtechnologyout-of-class.InChap.2,
HafnerandMillerdetailtheuseoftechnologyinanEnglishforsciencecourse.Here,
theauthorsrefertotheuseoftechnologyasecological,thatis,thetechnologyusedin
thecourseprovidesstudentswithcommunicationopportunitiesinordertodevelop
their digital literacies and their identities as global, multiliterate citizens. The use
of semi-authentic scientific projects allows students opportunities to communicate
usingarangeofsocialappsandmultimediawitheachotherandtheiraudiencesin
ways that are authentic and meaningful. In Chap. 3, Wu and Miller describe how
a strong link was developed among students who formed an out-of-class WeChat
supportgroupinordertopracticetheEnglishtheyhadlearnedinclass.Thechapter
begins with a review of some recent mobile-assisted language learning (MALL)
frameworks and then proposes using a revised version of the Production-Oriented
Approach(POA).ThestudyshowshowthePOAhelpsconceptually,andpractically,
tolinkclassroomandout-of-classlearningwiththesupportofmobiletechnologies.
Chapter4,byYinandChik,describestheeverydayexperiencesoftwoAsianstudents
livingandstudyinginAustralia.Bywayofthestudents’voices,theauthorsshow
themultiplewaysthesestudentsusetechnology,notonlyintheirdailylives,butalso
asawaytointegratethemselvesintoamulticulturalenvironment,andlearnEnglish.
WhilethecontentofChaps.2–4isfirmlyplacedonstudents’experiences,andthe
usesoftechnologyarefairlysophisticatedcontexts,inChap.5,JamesandLeeuse
narrativeinquirytoinvestigateteacheridentity,context,andtechnologyintegration
inlow-resourceESLclassroomsinMalaysia.Weseethatnotallteachershavethe
resources to make use of the latest technological ideas, but after they are trained
in how technology can be used, even in low-resources teaching contexts, they are
generallyfavorabletowardstryingtouseit.
Part II of the book contains nine case studies based on research from practi-
tionersaroundAsia.Basically,thesecasestudiesservetoillustratehowtheoriesand
principlesoflanguagelearningwithtechnologycanbeputintopractice.Thecase
studiesfollowatemplatesothatreaderscaneasilygainaccesstotheinformation.
Thetemplateis:(1)Background,(2)CaseStudy(e.g.,participants,projectdescrip-
tion, data), (3) Results (e.g., students’ and teachers’ voices), and (4) Pedagogical
Principles.
In the first case study, Richard Watson Todd and Stuart G. Towns (Thailand)
describe how they motivated their students to become engaged with improving
their writing skills by having them post their work on Wikipedia. This added an
authenticaudienceforstudentstowriteforandwashighlymotivating.Then,inthe
next case study, Wenhao Zhang (Hong Kong) talks about how his students made
Preface vii
use of PowerPoint (PPT) in their English for Specific Purposes (ESP) presenta-
tions.Althoughstudentsandtheirtutorshavecometoexpectprofessional-looking
presentations with PPT, Zhang maintains that there is still a lot to discover about
how students make use of this tool and how their presentations can be improved
from monitoring and analyzing students’ practices. Moving to teachers’ use of
technology for their professional development, the next case study by Marie Yeo
(Singapore),describesablendedcourseforonlinelanguageteachereducation.After
takingpartinaface-to-facetrainingperiod,teachersfromacrossAsiacancontinue
to access the course online. The benefits are that the online resource allowed for
contacttobemaintainedbetweenteachersandtheirtutorsaftertheinitialtraining
periodandmanyteachersweregratefulfortheadditionalfollow-upsupport.InCase
Study 4, Eric Hagley (Japan) outlines the way his Japanese students, with limited
Englishproficiency,participatedintheInternationalVirtualExchangeProject.The
outcomewasthatalanguageclassroominaregionaluniversityinJapanbecamea
placewherestudentsunderstoodtheforeignlanguagetheywerelearningbetterand
virtualexchangebecameaneffectivewaytoenhanceinternationalcommunication.
Case Study 5, by Alice Shu-Ju Lee and Wing Yee Jenifer Ho (Macao), reports on
how an instructor structured a group peer review activity that allowed students to
synchronouslycommentingontheirpeers’researchessaysusingGoogleDocs.The
results show a strong level of student engagement and students’ comments which
went beyond the teacher’s expectations. Turning to the topic of flipped classes, in
Case Study 6, Sung Yeon Kim (Korea) investigates how this type of learning was
incorporatedintocontentcoursesforpre-servicelanguageteachers.Althoughmany
teachersresistedtheuseofflippedcourses,andtherewereproblemsforbothteachers
andstudentsgettingusedtoaflippedcourse,theresultsfromthiscasestudyshow
thatwithsometraining,teacherscanmakeuseofthismodeofteaching,andstudents
gainbenefitsfromittoo.Inthenextcasestudy,MayyerLingandDeyuanHe(Brunei)
applyGarrison’sModelofself-directedlearning(SDL)tostudents’Canvasdiscus-
sions in order to investigate interactions between learners. Students taking a film
studiescoursewereaskedtodiscusswhattheyhadlearnedwitheachotheronthe
discussion platform on Canvas. The idea was to create space for learners to use
theirsecondlanguagetoexpressthemselvesfreely.Itwasfoundthatstudentswere
able to manage, monitor, and motivate each other in their online discussions. In
mostofthecasestudies,studentsandtheirteacherswereworkingintechnologically
advanced environments, turning to a more demanding context for the use of tech-
nology,MuhammedShahriarHaqueandMd.MasudulHasan(Bangladesh)discuss
theproblemsanddifficultiestheirstudentshadwhentryingtomakeuseoftechnology
inachallenginglearningenvironment.Evenalthoughtherewaspoorinternetconnec-
tivityandotherdifficultenvironmentalfactors,byperseverance,bothstudentsand
theirtutormadeGoogleClassroomworkandtheyallbenefitedfromusingit.Inthe
lastcasestudyinPartII,LluísVallsCampàandJuanManuelDíazAyuga(Japanand
Spain)explainavirtualexchangeprojectbetweenJapanesestudentsofSpanish,and
learnersofJapaneseinSpain.Forelevenweeks,studentsdiscussedinonlineforums
and,inJapan,engagedinclassroom-relatedactivities.Althoughthevirtualexchange
wasconsideredasuccessintermsofhavingstudentsusetheirforeignlanguage,and
viii Preface
learn more about each other’s culture, the authors caution about setting up such
activitieswithoutpriortrainingandcarefulselectionofmaterialsandtasks.Sucha
noteofcautionperhapsappliestoallattemptsatintroducingnewmethods,ornew
technologiestostudentsandteachers.
PartIIIofthebookcontains tworesearchchaptersandtwocasestudies.These
alldealwithmoreadvancedapplicationsoftechnology,andperhapsnotthetypeof
technologymostteacherswouldbefamiliarwithorbeabletouse.However,dueto
therapidadvancementoftechnology,suchareasneedtobereportedandexamined
for the benefits they may lead to in our future use of technology in education. In
Chap.15,SiewMingThang,NurjanahMohdJaafar,Hong-FaHo,andNoorBaizura
AbdulAzizmakeuseoftheEyeNTNU-120eyetrackerinlaboratoryconditionsto
trackstudents’eyemovementswhenreadingtextswithandwithoutillustrations.The
mainfindingswerethatillustrationswereusefulinaidingcomprehension,butthat
studentsneededtobetrainedtolookattheillustrationswhilereadinginordertogain
thesebenefits.InChap.16,DanyangZhangandPascualPérez-Paredesexplorethe
perceptionsof153EFLteachersoftheuseofAugmentedReality(AR)inEnglish
languageeducation.ARbasicallyintegratescomputer-generatedcontentoverareal
wordenvironment.AlthoughfewteachershadanyexperienceofusingAR,theywere
enthusiasticabouttheprospectitmighthavetoenhancetheirstudents’learning.
Theuseofadvancedtechnologiescanalsobeseeninthenexttwocasestudies.
Case Study 10, by Mehrasa Alizadeh and Eric Hawkinson (Japan), explains how
smartphonescanbeusedtohelpstudentslearnmoreaboutVirtualRealityfortourism
inanEFLcontext.Theirstudentsweregiventheopportunitytoexperiencecreating
mediafortourismpurposeswithinanEnglish-mediuminstructioncontext:graphic
design, photography, videography, with instruction on how to create content for
virtualtourism.Questionnaireresponsesshowthatalthoughanewwayoflearning,
moststudentswerereceptivetotryingoutthisapproach.Thelastcasestudyinthe
book,byBinZou,SaraLiviero,KefeiWei,LuSun,YitongQi,XiaoyuYang,and
JaiwenFu(MainlandChina)presentsastudyintotheuseofanArtificialIntelligence
(AI)speechevaluationsystem.Thesepractitionersassesshowusefulanonlineapp,
Liulishuo, was in giving students feedback on their speaking fluency, vocabulary
range,grammaticalandpronunciationaccuracy.Theresultsshowthatoncefamiliar
with how to use the app, most students were happy with its ability to detect their
pronunciationproblems.Thismadestudentsmoreawareoftheirspeechandhowto
improveareasofpronunciation.
Together,thechaptersandcasestudiesinthisbookrepresentafaircross-sectionof
teachers’andstudents’perceptionsonhowtechnologycanbesuccessfullyintegrated
inlanguageeducationinAsiatoday.
HongKong,HongKong LindsayMiller
Shenzhen,China JunjieGavinWu
Contents
PartI
1 MovingLanguageTeachingandLearningfromtheKnown
totheUnknown................................................. 3
AgnesKukulska-Hulme
2 LanguageLearningwithTechnologyintheClassroom............. 13
ChristophA.HafnerandLindsayMiller
3 FromIn-ClasstoOut-Of-ClassLearning:Mobile-Assisted
LanguageLearning............................................. 31
JunjieGavinWuandLindsayMiller
4 LanguageLearningAboard:ExtendingOurUnderstanding
ofLanguageLearningandTechnology............................ 49
YijunYinandAliceChik
5 Narrative Inquiry into Teacher Identity, Context,
andTechnologyIntegrationinLow-ResourceESLClassrooms...... 65
CynthiaC.JamesandKeanWahLee
PartII
6 Case Study 1, Thailand: “For the World to See
and Learn”—Motivating Learners Through Purposeful
Writing........................................................ 79
RichardWatsonToddandStuartG.Towns
7 Case Study 2, Hong Kong: Oral Presentations—Stories
BehindStudents’UseofPowerPoint.............................. 89
WenhaoZhang
8 CaseStudy3,Singapore:“ToBlendorNottoBlend—That
IsNottheQuestion”—BlendedDeliverytoASEANTeachers
ofEnglish...................................................... 101
MarieYeo
ix
x Contents
9 Case Study 4, Japan: Incorporating Virtual Exchange
intotheEnglishCommunicationClassroom....................... 113
EricHagley
10 CaseStudy5,Macao:UsingGoogleDocsforPeerReview.......... 123
AliceShu-JuLeeandWingYeeJeniferHo
11 CaseStudy6,Korea:FlippedContentCoursesintheKorean
HigherEducationContext:BenefitsandChallenges................ 133
SungYeonKim
12 CaseStudy7,Brunei:LearnersasEducatorsintheVirtual
AbsenceofAuthority............................................ 145
MayyerLingandDeyuanHe
13 CaseStudy8,Bangladesh:UbiquitousLearningThrough
Technology—ABangladeshiStory................................ 155
MuhammedShahriarHaqueandMd.MasudulHasan
14 Case Study 9, Japan: Influence of Tasks on Student’s
Interaction and Learning in a Telecollaboration Project
BetweenJapanandSpain........................................ 167
LluísVallsCampàandJuanManuelDíazAyuga
PartIII
15 UsingEyeTrackingtoInvestigateStrategiesUsedbyESL
LearnersinReadingaScientificTextwithDiagram................ 185
SiewMingThang, NurjanahMohdJaafar, Hong-FaHo,
andNoorBaizuraAbdulAziz
16 ExploringChineseEFLTeachers’PerceptionsofAugmented
RealityinEnglishLanguageEducation........................... 197
DanyangZhangandPascualPérez-Paredes
17 Case Study 10, Japan: Smartphone Virtual Reality
forTourismEducation—ACaseStudy............................ 211
MehrasaAlizadehandEricHawkinson
18 CaseStudy11,MainlandChina:TheImpactofPronunciation
and Accents in Artificial Intelligence Speech Evaluation
Systems........................................................ 223
BinZou, SaraLiviero, KefeiWei, LuSun, YitongQi,
XiaoyuYang,andJiawenFu