Ursula Stickler

The use of videoconferencing to support multimodal interaction in an online language classroom

The introduction of virtual learning environments has made new tools available that have the potential to support learner communication and interaction, thus aiding second language acquisition both from a psycholinguistic and a sociocultural point of view. This article focuses on the use of videoconferencing in the context of a larger exploratory study to find out how interaction was influenced by the affordances of the environment. Taking a mainly qualitative approach, the authors analysed the written and spoken interaction in recorded videoconferencing sessions, alongside examining some quantitative data to reveal participation patterns. Exploring language learning interaction in a synchronous online medium allows us to show how this is a process mediated by interaction with experts and peers as well as by the artefacts used (e.g., technology) and how learners use and combine multiple modes to make meaning. Our findings illustrate how an online videoconferencing environment with its multiple modalities can be used in language teaching, how teachers and learners adapt to the multimodal online environment and how new patterns of communication emerge in the process.

Spoken interaction in online and face-to-face language tutorials

While interaction in online language learning in the area of written computer-mediated communication is well researched, studies focusing on interaction in synchronous online audio environments remain scarce. For this reason, this paper seeks to map the nature and level of interpersonal interaction in both online and the face-to-face language tutorials used at the Open University, UK. A coding system for mapping interaction against the tenets of SLA is proposed and applied to sample tutorials. Initial analyses of data reveal differences with regards to the level of student participation, the use of the target language (L2) and the degree of tutor control and focus.

Designing online tutor training for language courses: a case study

In 2003–04 the Open University offered its first German beginners’ course with a dual tuition strand: tutorials were delivered either face‐to‐face or online using synchronous, audio‐graphic, Internet‐based conferencing software. For the new online tutors, a special training programme was designed and delivered. We evaluated the benefits of our training through a brief questionnaire and in‐depth interviews with selected participants. The outcomes are two‐fold: proof of the necessity of pedagogical training for tutors who work in a new and fast‐moving field, and some recommendations for best practice in training tutors for online tuition.

Online Teacher Development: Collaborating in a Virtual Learning Environment

Over recent years, educational institutions have been making increasing use of virtual environments to set up collaborative activities for learners. While it is recognized that teachers play an important role in facilitating learner collaboration online, they may not have the necessary skills to do so successfully. Thus, a small-scale professional development programme was set up and piloted by two distance universities. The aims were to develop teachers’ experience of online group work, to trial a set of pilot activities that would raise awareness of factors contributing to successful collaborative online activity, and to identify professional development needs in this area. This article reports on the hands-on experience of a group of 20 teachers, examines some of the competences that are needed to successfully collaborate in virtual environments, and presents the skills that teachers need to foster online collaborative learning in the virtual classroom. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected, examining the levels of participation among participants, the collaborative activity of two groups, and teachers’ perception of the collaboration that took place. The skills identified include planning and managing the collaboration, designing appropriate activities, giving clear instructions and getting students to negotiate ground rules for participation, moderating at the right level, and choosing the right environment and the appropriate tool(s). While this study was carried out with language teachers, many of the findings are applicable to other subject areas where growing emphasis is placed on the development of collaborative skills.

Transforming Teaching: New Skills for Online Language Learning Spaces

The use of digital technologies has transformed language learning and teaching, and today a multitude of online spaces are available that have a potential for learning. These spaces are multimodal, multicultural and multilingual, and they serve a number of purposes, from providing factual, reliable information and allowing learners to create individual or collaborative texts, to opening up fictional worlds and making available games for education. As they offer an almost unmanageable choice (Stockwell, 2012), teachers and course designers need a number of new skills to understand and select from what is available and subsequently to be able to transform these online spaces into coherent and usable learning spaces. Most language teaching is not conducted purely online or in only one medium, and this poses additional challenges, not just for teachers, but also for course and syllabus designers. These include integrating different communication channels (for example online and face-to-face teaching), choosing between asynchronous and synchronous tools, combining core teaching and optional ‘fun’ activities, or working with the ‘flipped classroom’ concept. In addition, although young learners in particular are often quite literate when it comes to the use of new technologies, they are not necessarily able to exploit these effectively in the context of the language classroom (Parry, 2011; Pegrum, 2011).

Tandem Learning in Virtual Spaces: Supporting Non-formal and Informal Learning in Adults

This chapter deals with the under-researched distinction between different levels of formality in language learning within and outside of institutions, and helps to clarify the realities of how adult learners select, design and construct their own experiences and environments for language learning beyond classroom boundaries. One of these informal environments is created through tandem learning. ‘Tandem learning’ is one of the forms of language learning relying least on the organizational structure and support of an institution. This chapter is based on the investigation of a multilingual, multilateral project, pairing learners of different languages and cultures with tandem partners. The authors will show benefits that adult learners derive from a tutor-supported online learning environment; they will also present the challenges for participants, concluding that regardless of teacher intentions, adult learners in a flexible, online environment will design, create and use their own learning opportunities.

The Interplay between attention, experience and skills in online language teaching

Abstract The demand for online teaching is growing as is the recognition that online teachers require highly sophisticated skills to manage classrooms and create an environment conducive to learning. However, there is little rigorous empirical research investigating teachers’ thoughts and actions during online tutorials. Taking a sociocultural perspective, this study explores the interplay between the attention focus of language teachers during synchronous online tutorials and their reflections on their own teaching practices. Eyetracking data show that patterns of attention focus on different areas of the screen (representing technical facilities, social interaction and content) are related to practitioners’ experience in online teaching including familiarity with a particular platform. In particular, those with less online teaching experience display greater attention to technical areas than their more experienced colleagues. These findings are confirmed in the teachers’ reflective interviews, stimulated by watching gazeplot videos of their online tutorials. Their reflections also yield deeper insight into reasons for particular actions. Thematic analysis was used to relate the reflections on teaching strategies to the levels of online teaching skills (Hampel and Stickler 2005, New skills for new classrooms: Training tutors to teach languages online. Computer Assisted Language Learning 18(4). 311–326). Our research has extended Bax’s normalisation (2003, CALL – past, present and future. System 31(1). 13–28. doi: 10.1016/s0346-251x(02)00071-4) of the use of technology in face-to-face classroom learning into online learning environments. Mirroring the ontogenetic development of increasing digitalisation, teachers in online environments appropriate the skills necessary to free cognitive resources for attending to social and pedagogic aspects of their teaching.

Young pupils’ perceptions of their foreign language learning lessons: the innovative use of drawings as a research tool

ABSTRACT Classroom research involving young participants’ perceptions is difficult and therefore not frequently undertaken. This article describes how an innovative use of drawings supported by pupil clarification of content can diminish difficulties and, more importantly, provide valid and in-depth reliable qualitative data for analysis. The study investigated primary school pupils’ perceptions of their foreign language (FL) lessons (English) involving the teaching taking place in the classroom, i.e. approach, methods, strategies and tools used, and pupils’ perceptions of English per se. The data of 48 drawings were collected at two primary schools in Austria and analysed through the lens of general and FL learning theories. Finally, a critical comparison with Austrian education policies was made. The findings showed that teachers’ classroom practice and their FL ability (pronunciation, grammar) are reflected clearly in the children’s drawings and in their attitudes to and enjoyment of the English lessons.

Introduction: From Teacher Training to Self-Reflective Practice

This book has been written to meet the need of language teachers who are keen to engage in online teaching and learning contexts, teacher trainers in search of resources that they can use with their trainees to develop their online teaching skills, and researchers in language pedagogy looking for well-founded studies and recommendations in this area. It integrates technology and pedagogy as well as theory and practice, and will help teachers in formal, non-formal and informal settings to become confident users of online tools and to relate their pedagogical practice to online learning situations as well as giving them a basic understanding of selected theories. Readers will be able to use this volume in the context of independent self-training and pre-service teacher training courses, for in-service staff development and also for establishing their own research projects. As befits the content, the book is modular rather than linear, and certain elements can be taken out of context and used independently for self-training or institutional training events.

Part-time and Freelance Language Teachers and their ICT Training Needs

The focus in this chapter is on part-time and freelance teachers of languages. It links to the previous one dealing with online training needs of European language teachers but whereas Chapter 2 explores mainly quantitative data collected from full-time teachers across Europe, this chapter is based on a small sample of qualitative data, collected from selected part-time teachers of languages, representing different cultures and different teaching contexts. In our analysis of these ‘vignettes’ of language teachers we found similarities and common themes that are typical for the situation of teachers who are not solely associated with one educational institution.