W.A.L.L. Project Report

Project Paper

Title:

To Enhance Teaching and Learning of  English for MUET

Using

W.A.L.L. (Web-Assisted Language Learning)

by:

Mohd Rosli bin Saidin

SMKA AL-IRSHAD

Pokok Sena, 13220 Kepala Batas

Pulau Pinang

                               

1. Introduction

a) Abstract

Teaching and Learning is an ever challenging experience in English classes, I would say. Both teachers and students seem to struggle to find the best ways to bring commitment and interest together. But it seems the only thing that sustains is commitment in trying to stay awake! Not only that, should the lesson lasts for two solid hours, then the teacher will start staring at the clock and wish the lesson would end. There is no doubt that the environment of teaching and learning should come to a compromise—both the presenter and the audience should benefit academically as well as emotionally.

Should we stick to the conventional chalk and talk, the objective of the lesson might not be achieved. Due to this problem, I have suggested an approach where the platform of the whole business is the web; that is a web-based teaching and learning method. Living in the world of information technology, I can see that the benefit of learning online as an option is indispensable. Online learning is not only a supplementary, it can be a complementary to the existing approach.

This approach exploits the students’ interest—the passion of logging on to websites, the joy of interacting with media and the convenience of learning flexibility. In other words, you need not force the students to work—just tell them what to do and the magic will do the rest! This time around the master does not have to bring the horse to the river and force it to drink as it is already there and ready to drink! Exploiting the students’ interest in getting their co-operation to learn the way they like to do things is an assumed credit.

b)

i) Definition

This project aims at using the web as an alternative source of information. Why the web? The web contains amazing volume of information waiting to be tapped by the users at the accuracy of their purpose or request. The intended instrument here is the blog. http://muetirshadway.blogspot.com/ is the platform for pre-university students to experience what online education is all about.

            Besides supplying direct information, the blog provides some links for the students to visit other websites without opening another homepage. The links should cater to the needs and nature of their studies, which must be relevant and user-friendly.

            The learning style of the students in schools should match their interest. The old method of paper-cutting articles could be a history against copy, paste and edit of the W.A.L.L. type. Who would bother to take the trouble of looking for the articles, cut them out and then design a lesson according to the headlines or what the teacher or students had gathered. Teachers should come out with the lesson plan first and then proceed to looking for the materials needed to support the lesson which means that the web is much more versatile medium to use.

            The net serves our needs specifically. Search is based on the words or phrases keyed in. The specific information is therefore obtained in a matter of minutes or even seconds! This is proven when I was coaching the school debates team. The moment they received the motion, internet was their first consultation.

            The main point here is, the web serves as the powerhouse of knowledge which could be consulted at anytime, anywhere—a strength which we should not do away with.

 ii) Project Focus/Issue—a reflection

The programme is carried out to meet the requirements of Form 6 AR (Lower Six) who are mostly low achievers in SPM. They are very different from the mainstream students of SMKA Al-Irshad. They lack confidence in both speaking and writing. Their vocabulary is very limited and irrelevant to the level of English that they should have acquired to sit for MUET. I would want to teach them all the relevant words in describing trends or discuss current issues. But both they and I just do not have enough time to be together—the breach of formal time-table or instructional time by all the events annually scheduled by the school plus the ones organised by the state education department is giving us acute time constraints.

So, how do I came up with an approach where we can interact more and most importantly at any time we choose? That happened only three months ago when I was waiting for my wife and kids doing their shopping on one weekend. I was watching a young girl who was texting on a cellphone. She was so preoccupied with the on-air session with her correspondent. What if that is supposed to be her teacher or classmate? I am not suggesting that we should snatch her weekend away from her family and friends just to contact her teacher! What a cruel thing to do. But what if she likes to do so, voluntarily over the cellphone? I am now suggesting that we exploit her interest—that is substituting her friends with the teacher and her classmates over the smart phone at her own will!

Everybody’s life nowadays is all-the-web stuff—be it the mother, the kids or just anyone. So, why don’t we exploit this round-the-clock interest to draw the kids to their lessons? Well, that’s my answer; the web and the gadgets!

So, I started on setting up a blog, creating all the necessary links to help them meet their goal; acquiring as many words as possible through reading and discussion. Extensive reading is vital in the students’ life so I drew their attention to reading online. Besides reading, questions were also posted up the bog for weekend assignments. Apart from the blog-based activity, the students were also drawn to a group forum where they could discuss their problems over social links like What’s App instantly which is regularly joined by the teachers.

c) Project Objectives

i. It enables access to numerous and varied information.

ii. Information is up-to-date.

iii. Information can be accessed anytime, anywhere.

iv. It is self-accessed which means students are not bounded by certain schedule as in the traditional
     classrooms.

v. Students can be instructed via the web and they could send their
    assignments through e-mail.

vi. Students could interact with teachers on-line, that is through:

    a) Writing comments on the blog

    b) Interacting among themselves and teachers in the group through What’s Application and other
        social applications.

vii. Students could correct their mistakes faster and more effectively through the blog and social
      applications.

viii. Interaction between teachers and students is more flexible—can be
       carried out after school hours as needed.

ix. The teacher could choose to guide the students individually after formal lessons without meeting
     face-to-face or it could even be done while the teacher or the student are on their way in an express
     bus or taxi to Kuala Lumpur!

x. Students could revise their lessons after school hours and anywhere
     they wish.

d) Is Web-Based Language Learning method effective in teaching and learning?

Yes, this method is extremely helpful as an alternative to solve many problems in classrooms. The blog will serve as the main hub for teaching and learning. All information obtained from or through the blog may be discussed further on the computer via the social applications like What’s Application, Telegram or the less dynamic ones like Facebook or Twitter on the cell-phone. The teacher or instructor could choose to interact with his students in groups or individually in private at the chosen or desired time. The correction of mistakes could be done instantly online. Many participants could discuss in a single group chat meaning that some problems could be solved in the virtual presence of at least 50 members at a time! Students could also load or send their assignments via e-mail or simply through social application. How the assignment is going to be sent will be decided by the students or the teachers.

e) Significance of project

This project was initiated to help students who are vocabulary impaired. These students were mostly low achievers in ‘O’ Level English (SPM). To start building up their vocabulary from the very beginning will take a huge effort, time-consuming and might be implausible. Within six months of hard work, success is not guaranteed. The areas to touch in diction is so huge. So, it is wiser and more logical to focus on the relevant words. The blog, as a source of information helps the students to access the net conveniently. The blog with all the relevant links will provide sufficient and accurate compilation of words they need. Apart from that, the students will be assigned with questions and tasks which will help them understand and consolidate their understanding through the web-assisted learning programme. Besides the ideal and interesting learning using the blog, the students get the opportunity to interact with each other through social application like ‘What’s Apps’. So, the subject matter will be often touched by them.

2. Literature Reviews

i) WEB ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (WALL) AND LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (LMS) IN VIRTUAL CENTRES FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGES

German Ruiperez

Abstract

The Web has had different uses in the teaching of modern languages: (a) as a source of resources: In a very short time, the Web has become the largest source of resources for the learning of any foreign language; (b) as a window of multimedia applications (in this way CD-ROM is replaced by the Web as the main means of storage of multimedia applications.); and (c) as an e-learning platform.

For an institution to create a Virtual Centre for Foreign Language Learning, certain software must be installed in a computer connected to the Internet. This software is called a Learnig Management Systein (LMS). Apart from the basic functions of the majority of the LMS, we should mention the advanced functions of the LMS: voice chats, digital television channel. mobile telephone services.

WAP complementary services and access to the LMS through electronic pocket diaries (PDA). There are many comparative studies of LMS, carried out by consultants, specialist magazines, etc. Despite the proliferation of comparative studies of LMS. they have hardly considered the specific features of CALL software, in which the functions that pronote sound interaction should be more advanced. On the other hand, the subject of standards Iias become relevant. It is logical that the user who introduces contents into a given LMS would want the guarantee of being able to use those contents within another LMS.

Keywords

Web Assisted Language Learning (WALL); Learning Management Systems (LMS); Virtual Centre for Foreign Languages; Web Based Training (WBT); Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL); e-learning

ii) EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

Going to the MALL: Mobile Assisted Language Learning

George M. Chinnery

University of Maryland Baltimore County

Introduction

In August 2004, Duke University provided free iPods to its entire freshman class (Belanger, 2005). The following month, a Korean education firm offered free downloadable college entrance exam lectures to students who purchased an iRiver personal multimedia player (Kim, 2004). That October, a financial trading firm in Chicago was reportedly assessing the hand-eye coordination of traders’ using Game Boys (Logan, 2004). Yet while such innovative applications abound, the use of technology in education and training is far from new, a fact as true in language classrooms as it is in medical schools. Practically since their availability, a succession of audio-visual recording devices (e.g., reel-to-reel, VCRs, PCs) has been used to capture language samples, and myriad playback and broadcast devices (e.g.,phonographs,radios, televisions) have provided access to authentic speech samples. The espousal of audio-lingual theory in the 1950s brought the widespread use of the language laboratory in educational settings(Salaberry, 2001).Influenced by behaviorism, the lab was progressively replaced in the 1960s by drill-based computer-assisted instruction, which decades later was itself surpassed by a more intelligent, interactive and multimedia computer-assisted language learning. The popular acceptance of the Internet in the 1990s advanced the development of computer-mediated communications.

As technologies continue to evolve, so does their propensity to shrink in size. "Other technologies that hold the capacity for language learning include PDAs, multimedia cellular phones, MP3 players, DVD players, and digital dictionaries" (Zhao, 2005, p. 447). Such portable media—referred to in popular and scholarly literature as mobile, wireless, handheld or nomadic—are now social staples. Mobile learning, or m-learning, is a burgeoning subdivision of the e-learning movement, further evidenced by European initiatives such as m-learning and Mobile arn.In this paper, applied fusions of m-learning and language learning follow, after which their benefits and challenges are reviewed.

iii) Research Article

An overview of mobile assisted language learning: From content delivery to supported
             collaboration and interaction

Agnes Kukulska-Hulmea1 and Lesley Shielda2

The Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, UK (email: A.M.Kukulska-
              Hulme@open.ac.uk) Independent E-learning Consultant, UK (email:
              lesley.shield@yahoo.co.uk)

Abstract

Mobile learning is undergoing rapid evolution. While early generations of mobile learning tended to propose activities that were carefully crafted by educators and technologists, learners are increasingly motivated by their personal learning needs, including those arising from greater mobility and frequent travel. At the same time, it is often argued that mobile devices are particularly suited to supporting social contacts and collaborative learning - claims that have obvious relevance for language learning. A review of publications reporting mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) was undertaken to discover how far mobile devices are being used to support social contact and collaborative learning. In particular, we were interested in speaking and listening practice and in the possibilities for both synchronous and asynchronous interaction in the context of online and distance learning. We reflect on how mobile language learning has developed to date and suggest directions for the future.

Keywords

MALL; m-learning; collaboration; distance learning; independent learning

  

3. Methodolgy

 A. Project Strategies—the blog

i) To establish a teaching-learning blog:

a) serves to impart information to students in the web

b) access is not limited to time or situation

c) sources of information is unlimited

d) quality of information is varied and monitored

e) links could be added anytime

ii) To design the blog

a) simple and organized (consists of posts and links)

b) layout could be changed occasionally

iii) To run the blog

a) the administrator will update the blog weekly

b) the material or information is classified and edited

c) the links are set up on choice and certification basis

d) class or subject instructions may be included in a few appointed posts

e) specifically appointed e-mail could be used as an assignment box

iv) To assess the blog

a) the visitors counter and comments will supply the rating

b) data in the live traffic feeds

B. Class Instructions

i) The topics are taught as usual through hand-outs or selected texts

a) The usual style of teaching and learning using printed materials

b) The students will react actively by jotting important points and pose questions

ii) Refer to the blog for relevant information

a) Students access the blog to search for relevant information from the blog articles or the links.

b) Students start to respond actively to what the web has to offer.

c) They are free to download, edit, copy and paste as required by the tasks.

iii) Interact actively through the social application

a) Interact with group members after school hours—the students are not allowed to bring along their
    cell-phones to school.

b) To try solving problems through their interaction with friends and teachers in the social apps.

C. Data Collection and Analysis                      

This is not meant for scientific process. The collection and analysis of data is to monitor the effectiveness of the programme and to see if there are some needs for intervention programmes.

4. Programme outcomes and implication

a) Programme outcomes and Implication

This programme is carried out to ensure active participation from the students in teaching and learning sessions. It will enhance the positive attitude towards second language learning. The programme will also heighten their confidence in using the language at their own pace and fancy. The change in behaviour and attitude towards English is something to celebrate! The students are now seen to voice their opinions in a manner they had not done before—louder and more confident!

5. Conclusion

This project was initiated with a meagre budget. The outcome seems to ridicule the small investment. The result is one of frantic joy and excitement. At least, our once unconfident, scared and shy students are now louder and bolder.

6. REFERENCES

a) Clinch, B.J. (1999). WEB ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING. In B. Collis & R. Oliver (Eds.),
    Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and
   Telecommunications 1999 (pp. 1334-1335). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

b) Agnes Kukulska-Hulme : Will mobile learning change language learning?, ReCALL / Volume 21 /
    Issue 02 / May 2009, pp 157 – 165

c) Ki Chune Nah, Peter White and Roland Sussex: The potential of using a mobile phone to access the
    Internet for learning EFL listening skills within a Korean context, ReCALL / Volume 20 / Issue 03 /
    September 2008, pp 331 – 347

d) David Little : Language, Autonomy and the New Learning Environments, Douglas Allford and
     Norbert Pachler. Bern: Peter Lang, 2007. 287 Pages. ISBN: 978-3-03-910567-0. Price: €58.40,
     ReCALL / Volume 20 / Issue 03 / September 2008, pp 380 – 381

e) WU Hui-qi,XU Ting(Science and Technology College of NCHU,Nanchang 330034,China);The
     Application of Multimedia Technology in College English Teaching[J];Computer Knowledge and
     Technology;2008-06