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KEYWORDS computer assisted language learning (CALL), computer mediated com- .... Three-way conference calls worked well for the speaking component in.
Danielle Cahill and Diane Catanzaro

Teaching First-Year Spanish On-Line Danielle Cahill and Diane Catanzaro Christopher Newport University ABSTRACT This article provides a framework and outline for teaching a foreign language course entirely on-line to college undergraduates. The course uses a distance learning approach that incorporates an electronic messaging system, multimedia, World Wide Web, and Internet assignments. Course structure, pedagogical issues, and one university’s experience with on-line courses are discussed as a basis for presenting a working model for teaching foreign languages using on-line technology. Finally, student learning outcomes in on-line and traditional first-year Spanish courses are compared.

KEYWORDS computer assisted language learning (CALL), computer mediated communication (CMC), computer based technology (CBT), distance education, electronic messaging system, Internet, multimedia, second language acquisition (SLA), virtual classrooms, World Wide Web (WWW).

INTRODUCTION SUMMARY LINE)

OF

CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY’S ON-LINE PROGRAMS (CNU ON-

In summer 1994, Christopher Newport University (CNU) secured a grant from the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Government Affairs on-line via an electronic bulletin board message system. CNU ON-LINE began as a text based bulletin board system and now incorporates a graphical interface through the World Wide Web (accessed through Netscape Navigator) and a messaging system using FirstClass Client server communication software.1 This wholly on-line computer managed system of course delivery provides students, regardless of distance, with an opportunity to pursue and to complete an undergraduate degree. Ridley (1997, 1) reviewed a number of studies that evaluated the effectiveness of on-line courses (Durel 1995; Ridley, Miller, and Williams 1996; Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

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Teaching First-Year Spanish On-Line Ridley, Williams, Miller, and Teschner 1996; Williams, Teschner, and Miller 1995; and Vachris 1996) and concluded that with much experimentation “a system of pedagogy evolved while assessment showed learning comparable to classroom learning and equivalent course rigor.”2 Ridley’s study has established that on-line courses are comparable to traditional courses in student learning outcomes for many types of college courses. However, research has yet to examine the effectiveness of teaching a foreign language using an entirely on-line course structure. CNU’s student body is composed mainly of non traditional commuter students with average ages of 27 (day classes) and 35 (night classes). Many of these students have full time jobs and are working parents who have decided to return to school. Cartwright (1993b, 68) underscores this growing phenomenon by stating that “fewer than half of the nation’s undergraduate students are traditional 18 to 22 year olds; most students today do not live within walking distance of their campus. These circumstances, and students themselves, beg for alternative modes of instruction.”3 Online courses are ideal for these students because they can complete class assignments at any time of the day or night from their home or office. Online courses also benefit the university by reducing overhead costs. Students save time and money and are able to continue working while pursuing their degree without affecting or sacrificing their academic performance. As a result, on-line courses at CNU have proven to be extremely attractive, as evidenced by the substantial rise of on-line registration. 4 In addition to a greater scheduling flexibility to complete class assignments, students also learn how to navigate an electronic messaging system, which, in turn, facilitates and broadens their understanding of the Internet and World Wide Web. The skills they acquire in an on-line course prepare them to access and navigate the Internet and will stand them in good stead in the coming century. Teaching language on-line or offering hybrid courses clearly reflects the five goals in the recently published Standards for Foreign Language Learning (1996): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

communicate in languages other than English gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures connect with other disciplines and acquire information develop insight into the nature of language and culture participate in multilingual communities at home and around the world

A first-year Spanish sequence was developed at CNU that was to be taught completely on-line to enable students to complete their foreign language requirement in CNU ON-LINE degree programs. Due to the novelty of the endeavor, the foreign language department faced the task of designing a brand new course with no known model to follow since dis98

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Danielle Cahill and Diane Catanzaro tance education by means of television was not an option. 5 We describe here a framework for teaching a language completely or partially via an electronic messaging system. Because no model exists for this specific language application, on-line language pedagogy is still in a transitional period in which trial and error predominate. We have completed our third year of on-line training and are continuing to update and refine the integration of technology and language acquisition. By no means do we claim to present a definitive model of on-line foreign language teaching but, more aptly, describe the experience of one institution in this quickly changing and innovative field. We will also explore the use of CD-ROM components and multimedia packages for language learning and their integration into the on-line course to solve some of the limitations of a text based medium. 6 The CNU Spanish on-line course is offered through a messaging client/ server system running on networked IBM-compatible and Macintosh computers connected to telephone lines through modems. CNU is presently using FirstClass Client server software, a fully graphic user interface which has proven to be convenient and user friendly. Students call into a bulletin board with our Internet service provider (giving their name and password) and use FirstClass Client to access the university’s on-line program. They can read and enter messages, upload and download files, and chat with other users in a chat room. Messages are usually divided into conferences or discussion groups in which the messages are listed according to subject matter, date, sender, and receiver. For example, once students log into the Spanish conference, they see a list of messages addressed to them or to the class as a whole with the sender’s name, subject, date, and time. The professor can obtain a receipt of the time at which messages were read, a procedure that can be useful in timed testing. The message log is also a searchable database in which multiple discussion threads, assignments, and student participation can be followed. After students complete an assignment, they receive corrections and a grade for that assignment from the instructor. All messages are then categorized and stored in appropriate folders for future reference. One major technological advantage of an electronic messaging system is the liberation from the constraints of time and space; parties do not need to be at the same location or be present at the same time to communicate with each other. Although the communication is asynchronous, it still retains a sense of immediacy. The entire message log is available for review by students so that they do not have the feeling of walking in late to a conversation (see Williams, Teschner, and Miller 1995, 2). In order to maintain this sense of immediacy, students and instructors must log on regularly, which turns out to be a determining factor for success in this kind of medium. The Spanish on-line course should be understood as a technological application of the interactionist model which posits that language acquisiVolume 14 Numbers 2-4

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Teaching First-Year Spanish On-Line tion is developed through the negotiation of meaning, a learning process which is ultimately collaborative in nature (see Hatch 1978 and Swain 1985). On-line technologies are effective pedagogical tools for second language acquisition because of their interactive nature. Students learn in a collaborative learning environment through constant interaction using the language in an engaging format. As Gamson (1994, 46) has pointed out, the effects of collaborative learning techniques “have important cognitive, affective, and social effects on students. Complexity of thinking increases, as does acceptance of different ideas; motivation for learning goes up; a sense of connection among students, even when they are quite different from another, is enhanced. These results hold for older and younger students as well as for poorly prepared and well-prepared students from different class, ethnic, and racial backgrounds.” Key elements of learning a new skill include exposure to a model of skill performance, practice using the skill, and specific feedback on the effectiveness of the performance. In the on-line course structure, all students receive feedback from the instructor because interactions are not limited by the time constraints and attention demands prevalent in normal classroom settings. Students who are shy, reserved, or less likely to volunteer in class have the same opportunity in on-line instruction as other students to practice their developing language skills and to receive the instructor’s full attention. An interesting question for further research would be the comparison of the actual tally of messages and interactive exchanges between students and instructor in traditional classroom courses versus online courses. That comparison might well reveal that on-line students engage in more communicative acts than in-class students. In addition, vast quantities of information are accessible through the World Wide Web exposing students to increased amounts of the target culture. Two models will be presented in this article. (1) The first model describes a first-year Spanish course taught completely on-line without a multimedia component. This model is applicable to many institutions interested in creating on-line foreign language courses. The expense involved in acquiring an effective multimedia package was an initial limitation for CNU and could well be for other institutions. (2) The second model describes an on-line first-semester Spanish course that includes Exito, a stand alone multimedia package, as its main teaching and learning tool. World Wide Web and interactive writing activities complement both models.

MODEL ONE MATERIALS

The Dos Mundos textbook was chosen as the textbook for the on-line course. This textbook is the same one used in the traditional classroom 100

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Danielle Cahill and Diane Catanzaro Spanish courses at CNU and allows easy transitions between on-line classes and traditional classes from semester to semester. The Dos Mundos textbook has proven effective for an on-line environment because it includes the following features: • A comprehensive oral component; The oral component of the textbook materials includes a Lab Manual, a series of three audiocassettes to accompany the Lab Manual, a vocabulary list organized by chapters, and a cultural readings audiocassette. The vocabulary audiocassette allows students to practice pronunciation of new words while reading from a list. The audiocassette of cultural readings exposes students to whole paragraphs in the target language in a contextualized format and introduces cultural information about the Spanish speaking world which can also be read in the text while listening to the audiocassette. • The McGraw-Hill Electronic Language Tutor (MHELT) computer exercises; We uploaded the MHELT disks onto our bulletin board, and students downloaded them to their computers to use the computerized exercises whichaccompany the textbook and which cover the main grammar points and structures in each chapter of the textbook. • Clear grammar sections, written in English, in the Dos Mundos textbook; • An emphasis on pair work, interviews, and oral communication that can be easily applied to written formats. A number of on-line students who were taking Spanish for the first time complained about not being able to understand the instructions for some of the exercises in Spanish. To remedy this situation, complex assignments were accompanied clarifications in English. The use of English supplements worked well to ensure that students stayed on target. Another drawback of using the textbook in an on-line format was the first four Pasos (introductory chapters to the book.) These chapters are clearly designed to reflect the Natural Approach Method advocated by Krashen and Terrell (1983) and do not translate well to an on-line format. It was necessary to adapt the assignments from these chapters to fit the limitations of a text based medium. SYLLABUS

AND

COURSE SETUP

This section and the following ones detail a list of possible activities that can be incorporated into the design of a first-year on-line Spanish course. Time constraints may well dictate having to make choices among these components in the curricula at individual institutions. The four skills— Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

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Teaching First-Year Spanish On-Line reading, writing, speaking and listening—must be kept in mind, but writing and reading are much more easily developed in an on-line format. In order to ensure that students complete their lab assignments and develop their communicative abilities, some sort of speaking component is vital. Three-way conference calls worked well for the speaking component in the CNU on-line course. In addition, a system we used in the early stages of instruction in which students left telephone messages for the instructor for pronunciation, alphabet, and vocabulary matters also worked well. It has been our experience that if a speaking component is not included as part of the final grade, students will not spend sufficient time learning how to pronounce and speak the language. Laboratory assignments should be complemented by exercises that require students to communicate orally in situations that they view as practical, realistic, and enjoyable (such as introductions, giving directions, shopping, descriptions, or planning a trip). The design of the on-line syllabus should also emphasize cooperative learning, student interaction, pair-group work, peer editing, and peer learning. WEEKLY TEXTBOOK ASSIGNMENTS

Students should be responsible for reading the grammatical explanations in an on-line course and for doing assigned textbook exercises in complete sentences. The instructor can augment textbook explanations of grammatical material by sending messages to students that contain further clarification and examples. Students should also be encouraged to send messages to the whole class regarding any questions they may have, opening up a forum for group discussion. Maintaining a message area for these kinds of public messages reduces students’ sense of isolation and frustration because they can become aware that their peers share similar problems and can learn from peer instruction and tutoring sessions. In the CNU on-line course, the eight textbook chapters were divided into two assignments each, a total of 16 assignments per semester, and each of the assignments was worth 2% of students’ final grades. These assignments were easily graded as full credit, half credit, or no credit in reply messages to students. Corrections were sometimes given in the form of general messages carbon copied to a number of students who made the same mistakes, thereby obviating the need to write the same message over and over again. Carbon copying of messages proved to be a tremendous time saver since English speaking students tend to make many of the same mistakes when learning Spanish. It should still be underscored that, when time allows, individual correcting is still more effective and was be achieved in the on-line course by sending messages to individual student in response to their assignments. Prompt and consistent feedback on the part of the instructor is essential for achieving effectiveness in this medium since students work on their own and have no verbal reinforcement. Dividing each chapter into two assignments in the course proved to be both manageable 102

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Danielle Cahill and Diane Catanzaro for the students and instructor. As mentioned above, assignment grades consisted of giving full credit (2 points) for completed work, half credit (1 point) for incomplete or late work (up to one week), or no credit. Each student’s progress was logged into a binder with loose leaf paper divided by assignments. A special page was used for student questions, concerns, and personal messages to the instructor since the course was taught completely on-line and the instructor received a considerable number of messages. It is very easy to lose track of messages without an adequate documentation system. 7 PEN PAL LETTERS

Developing reading and writing skills is a central feature of on-line language classes. To enhance students’ acquisition of these skills, the use of pen pal letters seems to be more effective than group projects since students can be graded on their work regardless of the degree of their partner’s participation. 8 Students can either chooses a pen pal or be assigned one for the whole semester. In the CNU on-line course, students sent their respective partners a total of six letters throughout the semester, usually after the completion of a textbook chapter. These letters were carbon copied to the instructor for corrections and grading. The Dos Mundos textbook includes interview style exercises incorporating the vocabulary and structures presented in each chapter which can then be used as guides for students’ letters. At the beginning of the semester in the on-line course, students reviewed a model letter with the appropriate format and wrote their own letter which had to include questions and answers based on the assigned exercises with a specified minimum number of lines. Explicit instructions for each assignment were vital for this purpose. The letters further developed writing skills and served as a measure of student performance and mastery of the material presented in the course. Additional writing practice included peer editing in which students received an anonymous letter that they had to correct and send to the whole class. A variation on this type of exercise consisted of the instructor cutting and pasting pen pal letters and posting the composite letter as a message after the assignment deadline had passed. Students were directed to find and correct a certain number of mistakes and report their findings to the class. The instructor filed each response in a folder for students’ perusal to keep the message log uncluttered. Peer editing was found to be more effective in this regard than simple corrections by the instructor since it enhanced students’ application of analytical skills and knowledge of the language. CONFERENCE CALLS

After every two chapters, pairs of students chose a conversation topic Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

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Teaching First-Year Spanish On-Line from a series of prescribed topics which covered the grammatical structures and vocabulary items presented in the textbook. These conversation topics were based on real-life survival situations (shopping, giving directions, etc.) in which students first had to develop a dialogue and then roleplay the dialogue for the instructor in a three-way telephone conversation. Students sent each other their half of the dialogue in message format which both parties edited and then sent to the instructor for correction and feedback. When students were ready to perform their dialogue (which they had previously practiced on the phone with their partner) they chose a time to make the conference call with their instructor from a published list of available dates and times. Using a series of open dates and times for students conference calls proved more practical than setting up specific calling times. Telephone conversations should last no longer than ten minutes in total, and students should be given a five minute limit for their dialogue. As the students read their part of the dialogue, the instructor listens and may write down any mispronounced words or major mistakes which can then be shared with the students in the last five minutes of the telephone call. This more personalized contact ensures a closer gauge of students’ strengths and weaknesses, improves the rapport between students and instructor, and allows for greater human contact. For students who have no prior experience in the foreign language, these conference calls may need to be redone and more pronunciation drills assigned. Even though the on-line course included an oral lab component, students who did not have prior experience in Spanish had tremendous difficulty with pronunciation. Adding a CD-ROM component could help to alleviate this problem and may render conference calls unnecessary. Yet, the interactive nature of conference calls allowed students to work together and enhanced personal interaction among instructor and students. Conference calls also ensured that students developed verbal and listening skills. Students were graded on the original dialogue before corrections (30%), the actual phone call (60%), and a final written corrected copy (10%). This process was time consuming but manageable since the conference calls were assigned only three times during the semester. Students were also encouraged to come to the instructor’s office to reenact their dialogues allowing for greater personal interaction. WORKBOOK AND LAB EXERCISES

The workbook and lab manual exercises that accompany Dos Mundos were assigned at the end of each chapter. Students photocopied each completed assignment and mailed them to the instructor. Two-week deadlines were given for submission of the exercises after the completion of a chapter, and students had to correct their work (using the answers in the back 104

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Danielle Cahill and Diane Catanzaro of the book) with a different colored ink. Uncorrected work received half credit. Occasionally, a student blamed the mail for the loss of one of these assignments. For this reason, it is advisable to have students photocopy their work before mailing. The laboratory component was probably the least favorite for the students and the instructor and will be replaced by a multimedia component in the future. CHAT SESSIONS

Chat sessions consist of students synchronously communicating in the chat mode on an electronic messaging system. Chat sessions allow for “real-time negotiation of meaning (asking for clarification, getting immediate feedback, adjusting one’s hypotheses about the target language’s structure, etc.) normally only available in face-to-face conversations” (Lafford and Lafford 1997, 251). Students in the CNU on-line course were required to complete three chat sessions per semester after every two chapters in the textbook or a World Wide Web assignment. In chat mode, students shared cultural information in the target language. As students progressed in their acquisition of the language, chat assignments progressed from a focus on basic conversation themes to cultural components found by browsing sites on Hispanic culture on the World Wide Web. In later stages of the course, students discussed an assigned country or topic researched on the Web, which helped them to advance their communication skills as well as their cultural literacy. For example, if the class was studying travel and leisure, students had to be familiar with vacation spots, cultural activities, weather conditions, and currency exchange rates for the country in question. If the instructor is not able to save chat sessions in a channel, as was the case when CNU switched to new software, the instructor may join the students’ chat sessions or interview students individually in the chat mode. These activities can also be incorporated into a message format if the chat mode is not a viable option. WORLD WIDE WEB ACTIVITIES

Searching the World Wide Web proved to be the most exciting and popular assignment for the students. 9 Browsing Web sites was facilitated by having students initially visit pre-arranged sites using links in CNU’s Spanish homepage, which was easily accessible through Netscape and tied into CNU’s internal messaging system. This activity served as an introduction for most of the students to a whole new world of information. Students’ reactions to these exercises were overwhelmingly positive; students appreciated such “progressive” and “informative” assignments. Students were assigned three open ended Web activities which allowed them to pursue their interests in their searches. Web activities were extremely important and were easily incorporated into the on-line course since students were Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

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Teaching First-Year Spanish On-Line already familiar with navigating the messaging system. These types of assignments, as Lafford and Lafford (1997, 221) observed, “basically serve[d] as reference tools that provide target language input—on-line newspapers, Web sites, and databases.” Hammerly’s subcategories of culture (cited in Lafford and Lafford 1997, 221): informational (reference materials), behavioral (interviews and editorials), and achievement (tours of museums, music clips, literary segments) are all present on the Web with its “repertoire of authentic materials that contain important cultural content about aspects of the target culture society.” Authentic and updated materials covering a wide range of interests overwhelmingly attract students’ attention and present them with a practical way to analyze the target culture and gain additional cultural competence. Web browsing activities should be kept open for students in order to permit them to gravitate towards topics that interest them, “The advantage of having the freedom to choose the on-line texts they will use as the basis for a report on the target culture is that it allows students of whatever age and social background to focus on topics of interest to them” (Lafford and Lafford 1997, 222). TEST PREPARATIONS AND TIMED TESTING

Three test preparations were uploaded as part of the 16 assignments and were graded by the same full credit/half credit/no credit method. The prompt grading of these preparations was fundamentally important since students used them as study guides. Students had three days in which to choose a time to take the test and were allowed a specified amount of time for each (Test One, 50 minutes; Test Two, 60 minutes; and Test Three, 75 minutes). Time receipts when students opened the test were issued to the instructor by the system and were compared to the time students sent the test to the instructor. Students’ names were divided into four groups and four different exams were administered. 10

MODEL TWO MULTIMEDIA

The limitations of learning a foreign language in a text based format are obvious. Students are limited to developing their writing and reading skills while oral, aural, and visual interactions are neglected. From the beginning, we knew that an effective on-line beginning language course would need to include interactive multimedia technology to develop and integrate all language skills. Interactive multimedia technology includes computer generated animation and simulations, digital audio, graphics, text, and video. Interactive multimedia programs can be very effective because they permit substantial learner control over instruction, feedback, and 106

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Danielle Cahill and Diane Catanzaro simulation of situations. Many language instructors have long felt the frustration of teaching languages in a vacuum due to the difficulty of recreating real life situations in the classroom. The use of videos have somewhat resolved this problem, but the advent of the CD-ROM and laserdiscs has really enabled students to learn interactively on their own initiative with hypertext links. Their ability to access information and to practice the target language in interactive settings goes far beyond what has been possible in the classroom. The use of CD-ROMs represents a viable solution to the limitations of a text based on-line language teaching. With this in mind, CNU purchased the multimedia software program Exito which is to be incorporated into Spanish on-line instruction. This innovative computerized language course was originally created to prepare government officials to work in Spanish speaking countries. George Mason University (GMU) adopted Exito as the central instructional medium for a first-semester Spanish course and began a pilot study using its materials in fall 1994. Students met weekly with their instructor, used language laboratory facilities, and completed guided assignments. They received three credit hours for their work in the course after completing an exit exam. In a study at GMU comparing students’ progress in the Exito program to that of students in traditional first-semester Spanish classroom, Nieves (1995) found that the Exito students developed their aural and oral skills far better than the traditional students, who ranked only minimally better in written skills. The Exito program engages students visually and intellectually in an individualized, interactive training experience. Student response to the use of the program was excellent since they were allowed to work at their own pace within flexible deadlines, often a crucial element for nontraditional students. Some of the features of this program include learner control, drill and practice opportunities, and timely, specific feedback in an interactive setting. Students hear and see native speakers in real life situations and are able to fine tune their accents by recording and comparing their voices to those of the native speakers. Language presentation is contextualized in practical situations that lead students into everyday social and business settings. Exito is divided into a “ten day” program and was adapted at GMU as a stand alone application to fulfill first-semester course requirements. The foreign language department at CNU will follow GMU’s example and will use Exito as the central instructional medium over two semesters. CNU will also complement the multimedia component with text based message assignments and World Wide Web activities. The implementation of multimedia in the on-line Spanish course in combination with text based assignments and World Wide Web activities should adequately prepare students in the four language skills and will afford them a much more excitVolume 14 Numbers 2-4

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Teaching First-Year Spanish On-Line ing and engaging format. After the completion of each “day,” students will take a timed quiz on-line covering vocabulary, grammar, writing, and reading. Speaking will be evaluated in five-minute telephone conversations between instructor and student covering each day’s content. A mid-term and final exam will be administered in a way similar to that of the quizzes and will include a writing and speaking component. A listening section will be added which will require students to listen to a spoken segment from the CD-ROM followed by written questions. EVALUATION OF ON-LINE STUDENT PERFORMANCE COMPARISON OF SECOND-SEMESTER ON-LINE AND IN-CLASS WRITING ACHIEVEMENT METHOD

The writing performance of students enrolled in a traditional secondsemester Spanish class was compared to that of students in an on-line second-semester Spanish class as described in Model One above. A total of 43 students were enrolled in two traditional classes, and 20 students were enrolled in the on-line class. All sections were taught by the same instructor and used the same textbook. Both the in-class and on-line students received the same final exam and two identical essay questions. All responses to the essays were transcribed in randomized order prior to blind grading by the instructor. The instructor graded a set of the essays, without knowing how students performed on the other one, for overall quality on a five-point scale from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). The scale was based on verb tense, gender agreement, subject/verb agreement, vocabulary usage, plural/singular usage, and verb conjugation. In addition, each essay was assigned a second grade consisting of the number of errors divided by the total number of words in order to calculate a percentage of error scores. The overall quality scores and the percentage of error scores were then submitted to statistical analysis. RESULTS

For overall essay quality, the means score for the on-line group of students was 3.21, and the mean for the group of traditional students was 1.96. A comparison of error percentages showed similar differences in favor of the on-line students; the on-line group had a mean of 18.45% incorrect words compared to 28.56% for the in-class group (see table 1).

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Danielle Cahill and Diane Catanzaro Table 1 Comparison of Means of On-Line Group Versus In-Class Group Mean SD Mean SD essay percent quality errors On-line group 3.21 .94 18.45 9.20 F(2,57)=7.185* In-class group *p < .01

1.96

1.27

28.56

9.20

A multivariate Hotelling’s T2 test of the between group means indicated that students in the on-line group significantly outperformed those in the in-class group on both measures of writing quality (F [2,57] = 7.185, p < .01). Two tailed t-tests were used to confirm the between group differences for the separate measures of writing quality. For overall essay quality, t = 3.425, and for the percentage of errors, t = -3.114, both significant beyond .01. It should also be noted that the higher performance of the online group could not be attributed to their previous experience in Spanish. The group of on-line students had a mean of 1.15 years of previous instruction in Spanish, while the group of in-class students had a mean of 2.07 years. The two measures of writing skill showed a clear difference in favor of the on-line students. The reasons for the superior performance of the online students is unclear. One possible explanation is that on-line students may have sent and received more messages in the target language (with a concomitant increase in practice, feedback, and negotiation of meaning) than students in the traditional class. Whether this explanation accounts for the better writing performance of the on-line students remains a question for future research. A second area in which future research is needed is a comparison of traditional and on-line students’ oral communication.

CONCLUSION Because the role of the instructor in on-line courses becomes that of manager and guide of student progress, the teacher centered nature of classroom teaching is replaced by a more student centered learning process. For this reason, on-line courses may not be for everyone. Mature students who are able to manage their time often excel, while less mature and less motivated students might find this medium extremely frustrating if they fall behind or do poorly. The best way to ensure active and consistent student participation is to make assignments clear and precise, post strict date and time deadlines for all assignments, offer guidelines for time management, and give students weekly feedback reports on their progress. Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

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Teaching First-Year Spanish On-Line Many fellow CNU ON-LINE colleagues have noted that we are teaching a generation of television watchers, not readers. On-line learning requires that students read instructions carefully, but, unfortunately, some students either skim over instructions (or simply not read them) and then may attempt to blame the instructor for missed deadlines or incomplete work. To avoid these often emotional confrontations, short, repetitive instructions help to assure that students stay on track. Students who fare poorly in this medium tend may try to find fault with the instructor, but the automatic documentation procedures in the system makes course data readily available. 11 On-line classes teach students to take control of the learning process by helping them to develop organizational skills, which, in itself, can be an empowering experience. As Cartwright (1993a, 68) has shown, adult students “need to have some ownership in their learning process. They need to have some control over their learning and to be able to make some of the decisions about what, when, and how to study. The older tutorial, drill, practice lockstep approaches did not permit students control of their own learning. The newer academic technologies do.” Another highlight of the virtual classroom is the ability on the part of the instructor to gauge student progress regularly and frequently. In a traditional classroom, students’ misunderstandings may go unnoticed until the day of the exam. The on-line medium supports individualized instruction for students and also places learning demands on them to develop and maintain good study habits. On-line instructors may feel that they miss the face to face interpersonal contact with students. Instructors who have dynamic teaching styles and who thrive on live performance in the classroom may find on-line courses less rewarding. Developing an on-line “personality” that incorporates the instructor’s sense of humor and individuality can help alleviate student anxiety and reduce the perception that the instructor is solely a task assigner and grader. An on-line class is more time consuming than a traditional class, for both instructor and students, because of the learning curve associated with the technical aspects of electronic communication. Training in the use of software is necessary for both the instructor and students, and technical support in the form of a help line staffed by experienced personnel is essential. In addition, the instructor must deal with a large number of messages on a daily basis. With experience, the on-line instructor can learn how to reduce the volume of messages to a manageable load. In order for on-line courses to succeed, support from the university administration must be constant and strong. The university’s reward system should recognize the time consuming nature of on-line courses, or else faculty will not be willing to put the time and effort needed to make courses successful. 110

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Danielle Cahill and Diane Catanzaro In summary, on-line foreign language courses are an effective alternative to meet the needs of students. Our experience at Christopher Newport University has demonstrated that students’ development of writing skills, in particular, can exceed those obtained in a traditional class. Online courses offer an opportunity to meet the needs of diverse student populations but also present challenges to adapt course design and pedagogical methods to fit the on-line structure.

NOTES 1

CNU ON-LINE can be reached at http://www.cnuon-line.cnu.edu.

2

Extensive research by Cartwright has gleaned similar results. See Cartwright (1993a; 1993b; and 1994). 3

Ridley (1997) has reported that the majority of CNU ON-LINE students comes from roughly a 50 mile commuting radius (see Ridley 1997). 4

In the fall semester 1994, 138 students were enrolled in eight CNU ON-LINE courses offered by four departments (English, Government, Philosophy and Spanish). In the spring semester 1997, 500 students were enrolled in 34 CNU ONLINE courses offered by 11 departments (Business, Economics, Education, English, Government and Public Affairs, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Religious Studies, Sociology and Spanish). 5

In the last few years, projects focusing on the integration of technology and education have steadily increased as reflected in the published research of the Higher Education Academic Computing Organization’s (EDUCOM) EUIT project (Educational Uses of Information Technology): 101 Success Stories of Information Technology in Higher Education. For more information, see Cartwright (1994). See also Lafford and Lafford (1997) for a practical and comprehensive guide to technology based foreign language pedagogy and activities. 6

New editions of many language textbooks are accompanied by multimedia packages. Prentice Hall’s latest edition of Arriba offers an excellent CD-ROM component as well as a Web site. 7

Student messages of a personal nature need to be documented with the name, date, and subject. Since face to face conversations do not occur, personal messages regarding technical problems and personal emergencies are not easily associated with individual names. Clear and concise documentation takes care of this problem. 8

In other on-line courses, group projects are the main structural feature based on the concept that this structure more aptly mirrors cooperative working environments. In the CNU on-line course, this technique proved impractical for weekly Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

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Teaching First-Year Spanish On-Line pen pal assignments. Long term group projects are more useful for World Wide Web projects. 9

For a list of features available on the World Wide Web, see Zhao (1997, 38-40).

10

Cheating was a major concern when we designed Spanish on-line course. As the Administrators of CNU ON-LINE have expressed, it would be almost impossible for on-line students to have someone to help them during the course of an entire semester. With this in mind, it was key to keep track of student progress and compare assignments, test preparations, and test scores of each student for discrepancies. James Husband, coordinator of CNU ON-LINE, studied the grades of students enrolled in virtual and traditional classrooms. Husband’s hypothesis was that on-line student grade point averages would substantially improve after enrollment in on-line courses. However, Husband found no evidence to support this hypothesis. 11

In one instance a student unjustly challenged a grade in first-semester Spanish. Due to the nature of the on-line teaching, it was possible to document this student’s work by retrieving all messages that were sent between student and instructor. It should also be noted that instructors can be protected from what students may claim to be incriminating remarks in messages, as was the case in this instance, since the message log is a retrievable database.

REFERENCES Cartwright, G. Phillip. (1993a). “Teaching with Dynamic Technologies: Part One.” Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning (Nov.-Dec.): 67-69. _____. (1993b). “A Matter of Access: Students and Information Technology.” Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning (Sept.-Oct.): 66-69. _____. (1994). “Teaching with Dynamic Technologies: Part Two.” Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning (Jan.-Feb.): 52-55. Durel, R.J. (1995). “Teaching Introductory Sociology On-Line.” Paper presented at the meeting of the Virginia Social Science Association, 24 March 1995. Gamson, Zelda F. (1994). “Collaborative Learning Comes of Age.” Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning (Sept.-Oct.): 44-49. Husband, James. (1997). “Virtual Cheating: Is it a Problem?” Unpublished internal report. Newport News, VA: Christopher Newport University. Krashen, S.D. and T.D. Terrell. (1983). The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom. Hayward, CA: The Alemany Press. Lafford, Peter A. and Barbara A. Lafford. (1997). “Learning Language and Culture with Internet Technologies.” In Technology Enhanced Language Learning, edited by M. Bush and R. Terry, 215-261. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.

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Danielle Cahill and Diane Catanzaro Nieves, Kelly Ann. (1996). “The Development of a Technology-Based Class in Beginning Spanish: Experiences with Using EXITO.” Ph.D. diss., George Mason University. Pusack, James P. and Sue K. Otto. (1997). “Taking Control of Multimedia.” In Technology Enhanced Language Learning, edited by M. Bush and R. Terry, 1-46. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company. Ridley, D.R. (1996). “Comparative Data on Student Learning: CNU On-line and Classroom Course.” Unpublished Internal Report. Newport News, VA: Christopher Newport University. Ridley, D.R. (1997). “Evaluating the Impact of On-Line Course Enrollments on FTEs at an Urban University.” Paper presented at the 1997 Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Orlando, FL. Ridley, D.R. and H.Y. Sammour. (1996). “Viable Alternative Means of Instructional Delivery: On-Line Courses as an Alternative Teaching Method.” College Student Journal 30: 337-339. Ridley, D.R., B. Miller, and H. Williams. (1996). “The 1995 Assessment Report for CNU On-Line.” Resources in Education, ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, ERIC Document Number ED397070. Ridley, D.R., H. Williams, B Miller, and G. Teschner. (1996). “Assessment Plan for CNU On-Line.” Resources in Education, ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, ERIC Document Number ED392829. Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century. (1996). Yonkers, NY: National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project. Thornburg, D.D. (1994). Education in the Communication Age. San Carlos, CA. David D. Thornburg and Starsong Publications. Vachris, M.A. (1996). “Teaching Economics in a Virtual Classroom.” Paper presented at the 1996 meeting of the International Atlantic Economic Association, Washington, D.C. Williams, C.H., G. Teschner, and B.G. Miller. (1995). “Teaching On-line, Computer-Managed Conferencing.” Unpublished manuscript. Newport News, VA: Christopher Newport University. Zhao, Yong. (1997). “Language Learning on the World Wide Web: Toward a Framework of Network Based CALL.” CALICO Journal 14: 37-51.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CNU Spanish on-line would have been virtually impossible without the continued guidance and support of George Teschner, the founder of CNU ON-LINE, and the vision of Richard Summerville, CNU’s former Provost. We would also like to thank CNU ON-LINE Coordinator James Husband, his assistant Ricardo Hailes, and the CNU ON-LINE staff for their patience and assistance.

Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

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Teaching First-Year Spanish On-Line AUTHORS’ BIODATA Danielle Cahill (Ph.D., Catholic University) is an Assistant Professor of Spanish language, literature and culture. In addition to designing and teaching Beginning Spanish On-line, she has been instrumental in designing and teaching Business Spanish and Culture and has made several presentations in these fields. Diane Catanzaro (Ph.D., Old Dominion University) is an Associate Professor of Psychology and teaches in the area of organizational psychology. Her areas of research include organizational innovations in service delivery, instructional design, and assessment of learning outcomes. She has presented and published in the areas of course design and service delivery. AUTHORS’ ADDRESSES Danielle Cahill Diane Catanzaro Christopher Newport University 50 Shoe Lane Newport News, VA 23606-2846 Phone: 757/ 594-7107 Fax: 575/594-7577 E-Mail: [email protected] E-Mail: [email protected]

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