Dorothy M. Chun

Supporting visual and verbal learning preferences in a second-language multimedia learning environment

English-speaking college students who were enrolled in a German course read a 762-word German language story presented by a computer program. For key words in the story, students could choose to see a translation on the screen in English (i.e., verbal annotation) or view a picture or video clip representing the word (i.e,, visual annotation), or both. Students remembered word translations better when they had selected both visual and verbal annotations during learning than only 1 or no annotation; students comprehended the story better when they had the opportunity to receive their preferred mode of annotation. Results are consistent with a generative theory of multimedia learning that assumes that learners actively select relevant verbal and visual information, organize the information into coherent mental representations, and integrate these newly constructed visual and verbal representations with one another.

Cognitive load in reading a foreign language text with multimedia aids and the influence of verbal and spatial abilities

When do multiple representations of information in second-language learning help and when do they hinder learning? English-speaking college students (N=152), enrolled in a second-year German course, read a 762-word German story presented by a multimedia computer program. Students received no annotations, verbal annotations, visual annotations, or both for 35 key words in the story. Recall of word translations was worse for low-verbal and lowspatial ability students than for high-verbal and high-spatial ability students, respectively, when they received visual annotations for vocabulary words, but did not differ when they received verbal annotations. Text comprehension was worst for all learners when they received visual annotations. Results are consistent with a generative theory of multimedia learning and with cognitive load theory which assume that multimedia learning processes are executed under the constraints of limited working memory. # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Facilitating Reading Comprehension with Multimedia

Abstract Based on recent theories of the L2 reading process that have focused on an interactive approach, i.e. the utilization of both top-down and bottom-up processing, this paper is concerned with the question of how reading comprehension can be facilitated with a multimedia application for language learning. On the macro level, the effect of a dynamic visual advance organizer is investigated. On the micro level, the effects of multimedia annotations for single vocabulary items are studied. In addition, the relationship between vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension is examined. To test our hypotheses three studies with a total of 160 students were conducted using the multimedia application CyberBuch. The results indicate that a dynamic visual advance organizer does aid in overall comprehension and that annotations of individual vocabulary items consisting of both visual and verbal information help more than verbal information only. Also, a moderate correlation between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension was found. These results support the dual coding theory and its extension to multimedia learning and underline the importance of visual information in addition to verbal information to support both top-down and bottom-up processing in reading in a foreign language.

Discourse intonation in L2 : from theory and research to practice

Intonation, rhythm, and general “melody” of language are among the first aspects of speech that infants attend to and produce themselves. Yet, these same features are among the last to be mastered by adult L2 learners. Why is this, and how can L2 learners be helped? This book first presents the latest linguistic theories of intonation, in particular, how intonation functions in discourse not only to signal sentence types and attitudinal meanings but also to provide turn-taking and other conversational cues. The second part of the book examines the research in applied linguistics on the acquisition of L2 phonology and intonation. The third section offers practical applications of how to incorporate the teaching of intonation into L2 instruction, with a focus on using new speech technologies. The accompanying CD-ROM makes a unique addition in allowing for simultaneous audio playback and visual display of the pitch contours of utterances contained in the book. Users can start or stop the playback at any point in the utterance and can observe first-hand how such visual and audio representations could be useful for L2 learners.

L2 Reading on the Web: Strategies for Accessing Information in Hypermedia

This empirical study explores how L2 learners access information while reading L2 texts in a Web-based learning environment. Twenty-three second-year German students read and summarized two online texts in the netLearn program, while their use of online multimedia support resources was tracked. Multimedia resources included a program-internal glossary, an online bilingual dictionary, and an audio narration of the text. After reading each text, learners wrote summaries, and the summaries were scored in terms of the number of propositions recalled. The tracker noted the number of words looked up and the amount of time spent on the tasks of reading and writing. In addition, a subset of students did think aloud protocols while reading online. Selected students were interviewed after they used the program about their metacognitive reading strategies. The results from both the quantitative data (e.g., number of words looked up, time spent on tasks, and number of propositions recalled) and the qualitative data (e.g., when and why learners looked words up and whether they found the audio helpful) provide insights into how L2 learners use online textual and audio information to aid comprehension while reading.

Technological advances in researching and teaching phonology

Technology has been used for many decades for phonological research as well as for teaching phonetics, phonology, and pronunciation. However, it is only in the last 15 years that the incorporation of speech technology into linguistic and applied linguistic inquiry has begun to yield major results in research and practice. The purpose of this chapter is to examine advances and new directions in acoustic analysis and speech recognition as they relate to issues of phonology, both from a research perspective of quantifying and measuring segmental phonemes and prosody, and from the practical perspective of using technology to teach.

Language and culture learning in higher education via telecollaboration

This article focuses on the ways of researching the process of designing, developing, and using telecollaboration (also known as online intercultural exchange) to facilitate the learning of both linguistic and intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in higher education courses in different educational contexts in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Although telecollaboration would intuitively seem to be an ideal medium for learning another language and about another culture, extensive research has shown that this learning process takes years and faces many challenges. This paper situates the research on language and culture learning within the broader scope of language and intercultural education (see Pedagogies, 8(2), for a report of an interview with Michael Byram, one of the originators of the concept of ICC). A multinational example of the integration of telecollaborative networks in European university language classes collaborating online, the INTENT project, is described. In addition, a telling case, the Cultura model, implemented in the United States, Europe, and Asia, demonstrates a successful approach (with accompanying research) to telecollaboration for language and culture learning. However, there are also invisible factors and unanticipated challenges that teachers and learners need to understand in order to benefit from these telecollaborative environments; these are examined at the end of the article.

Effects of Instructor Engagement on Student Use of a Course Management System

College campuses are rapidly adopting Course Management Systems (CMS) such as Moodle and Sakai for undergraduate instruction. These online support systems offer the potential to extend student-instructor interaction beyond the classroom, yet little is known about the effects of instructor engagement on student use.This study evaluates the extent to which instructor use of a CMS affects student use and whether increased student use results in improved academic performance. Participants in two intact courses taught by the same instructor used course resources available on Moodle during an academic quarter. Levels of online course support provided by the instructor were compared with levels of student use. Levels of student use were then compared with academic performance. In this study, we hypothesize that instructor engagement with a CMS affects how students use the system and that this use relates to academic performance.