New Technologies and Language Learning:
theoretical considerations and practical solutions.

Bernd Rüschoff with Andreas Lund

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Abstract: This paper discusses the challenges to language learning and its methodological principles posed by the new technologies. It will be argued that the integration of new media into language learning is a necessary step to ensure the acquisition of the kind of language skills and competencies needed for living and working in the knowledge society. Innovative use of such technologies will lead to more flexibility in the content and organisation of learning; new media must be looked at not simply in terms of traditional self-study materials but rather in terms of tools for learning. New information and communication technologies and their role in language learning processes are the topic of this paper, but the "Observe-Hypothesize-Experiment" paradigm as proposed by Michael Lewis (1993) will be discussed as an appropriate basis for the creation of a technology-enhanced rich learning environment for language learning in the new millennium. Six metaphors for the arrangement and organisation of the language classroom in line with such a paradigm will then be referred to in order to present the functionalities and resources developed in the course of the ICT in VOLL project and made available via the GrazVOLL website up to now.

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Introduction

New technologies have become the predominant influence on the way we live and work at the beginning of the new millennium. Some view the changes effected by global networks and information technologies with some apprehension. Others consider the innovative potential of world wide co-operation via e-mail and internet as well as unprohibited access to information and digital resources by means of telecommunications and other forms of electronic publication to be of benefit for both the professional and the educational world. Our society, which has now become what is best described by the term knowledge society, is undergoing tremendous changes. Such changes are linked with challenges which need to be met not just by business and industry but even more so by educational institutions at all levels. As new technologies are nowadays used as tools in almost all trades, they also need to be exploited in order to initiate changes in the way we teach and learn. A principled approach is needed in order to translate the potential of new technologies into new methodological approaches and changing organisational frameworks for the learning and acquisition of any subject. This is true even more for the learning of foreign languages, as language competencies and intercultural skills will more than ever be part of the key qualifications needed to live and work in the knowledge society.

This is the starting point of the ICT in VOLL project, as its aim is to consider the potential new technologies have to offer for the creation of innovative learning environments for language training for professional and specific (vocationally oriented) purposes. However, the current project set out not just to discuss all relevant aspects in theory. In addition, each phase of the project from the beginnings at the first workshop at Graz in the year 2000 was geared towards setting up a resource to be made available to the VOLL community in order to put theory into practice. Currently, the GrazVOLL website contains a well-balanced mix of background materials, papers and theoretical deliberations collected or put forward by members of the project team and concrete examples of best practice developed by participants and workshop animators during the workshop series.

On a theoretical level, the principles of the knowledge society in terms of its basic characteristics and the resulting challenges for (language) learning will be discussed together with an assessment of constructivism as the appropriate paradigm for language learning in the new millennium. Papert’s concept of constructionism was adopted as a possible basis for putting theory into practice and defining a set of criteria for assessing different kinds of models and materials with regard to using new technologies in vocationally oriented language learning. As far as practice is concerned, a resource dedicated to the integration of new technologies into innovative scenarios for language learning can, of course, not be restricted to a mere description of technical features or existing courseware and software tools. Consequently, the theoretical principles and the methodological framework for materials development and the implementation of technology-enhanced language learning scenarios were a constant feature of the deliberations and sessions dedicated to practical group work. The essential concept of appropriation with reference to teachers' ability and willingness to adopt and utilise the new media plays a central role in deliberations concerning informed use of the media available.

Most of these aspects are documented on the GrazVOLL website, so I shall not repeat this discussion in the course of this paper. Instead, I shall just briefly stress a few of the didactic principles which guide our work in addition to reiterating one or two of the necessary didactic consequences based on one of the key principles of constructivism, i.e. "… we cannot [simply] put ideas into student’s heads, they will and must construct their own meanings. ...” Following this, I shall use Legutke's (1991) six metaphors for a rich learning environment as a starting point to demonstrate how the resources and structure of the GrazVOLL website reflects a a state-of-the art approach of the integration of ICT into VOLL.

 

Didactic principles

New technologies have become the dominant feature which influences living and working at the beginning of our millennium. The resulting challenge to education has been discussed by Costa and Liebmann who explain „that with knowledge doubling every five years - every 73 days by the year 2020 - we can no longer attempt to anticipate future information requirements. If students are to keep pace with the rapid increase of knowledge, we cannot continue to organise curriculum in discrete compartments, ... the disciplines as we have known them, no longer exist. They are being replaced by human inquiry that draws upon generalised transdisciplinary bodies of knowledge and relationships.“ (Costa & Liebmann, 1995: 23). 

As a result, the traditional skills of information gathering and storing as well as the mere learning of facts will no longer be sufficient in order to live, work, and learn in the coming centuries. Consequently, the ultimate aim of teaching and learning will be to assist learners in their need to develop strategies of knowledge processing. Therefore, the traditional transmission model of learning must be replaced by models which emphasise information processing and knowledge construction as acts of learning most suited for the acquisition of the kind of skills needed for the knowledge society. Education and teaching in the knowledge society can no longer be reduced to „the act, process, or art of imparting knowledge and skill“ as Roget’s Thesaurus proposes, but learning must be recognised as an act in which a learner plays the role of an active constructor of knowledge. Criteria based on such principles need to be considered when evaluating the effectiveness and value of technology enhanced materials for language learning.

Learning is currently viewed as an active, creative, and socially interactive process and knowledge is regarded as something children must construct and less like something that can be transmitted or transferred (e.g. Florin, 1990). Learning based on constructivist principles will allow learners to tap into resources and acquire knowledge rather than force them to function as recipients of instruction. As far as new technologies are concerned, this means that making use of new technologies in language learning simply in the format of computer-based instruction packages with traditional grammar and vocabulary drills is not the best way of exploiting their real potential for innovation. Unfortunately, the majority of materials available to date follow a traditional, often even behaviourist drill and tutorial paradigm, which – quite understandably – leads a number of colleagues to reject the use of technology enhanced courseware.

Innovation by means of new technologies in language learning needs to search for other kinds of applications and follow more accepted models of learning. As far as foreign language learning is concerned, research into the processes of language learning and acquisition suggests that mere training in structural (grammatical) and vocabulary knowledge will not result in real linguistic competence and language proficiency. However, apart from basic communicative competencies as well as linguistic competences and skills in the traditional sense often favoured in the communicative classroom of the 80s, strategies of language processing and learning competence as well as language awareness are regarded as an essential part of the overall aims of any language curriculum. The basic principles and aims of such an approach to language learning can be visualised by the following graph.:

Such competencies, often discussed in the context of learner autonomy, are of utmost importance for language learning. In addition, learning and acquisition by doing as well as processes of discovery, exploration and reflection in action are today very much regarded as an important methodological basis for a real innovation in foreign language learning. Within this paradigm, new technologies need to be exploited in such a way that the acquisition of communicative competence as well as language awareness and learning competence is ensured. Language learning as well as learning in general should be described as an interactive, dynamic process, in which new knowledge is most fruitfully acquired when learners are placed in a situation where they can explore sources and resources rather than in a context of mere formal instruction. In such a scenario, learners combine new information with previous factual (declarative) and procedural knowledge and draw new conclusions from this process. Such a process-oriented approach to learning will not simply lead to a better understanding of linguistic facts (e.g. structure and vocabulary) and more effective acquisition of language proficiency; it will also lead to more learning competence as well as language awareness. These are the issues that need to be considered when looking at the use(fulness) of new technologies in foreign language learning.

Didactic consequence

The question remains, however, as to how the theoretical framework discussed above can be put into practice. i.e. how the principle of „learning without being taught“ as proposed by Piaget (cf. Papert, 1980: 7) can be integrated into a technology enhanced learning environment of the future? Within the scope of this paper a full discussion of this issue is not possible, but a few issues need to be touched upon briefly.

The first conclusion to be drawn from current lines of thought in didactics as well as language acquisition research is what Michael Lewis had suggested in 1993. He suggested a rejection of the traditional, often very much teacher-centred cycle of teaching and learning (often referred to as the three "Ps") in favour of more learner-oriented and task based scenarios for language learning. In  his own words, one should consider a rejection of "…the Present-Practise-Produce paradigm … in favour of a paradigm based on the Observe-Hypothesise-Experiment cycle". (Lewis:1993) This paradigm would be applicable to all three of the above mentioned aims of language learning, as learner-driven, task-based and guided processes of inquiry, experimentation, reflection, and communication would become an integral part of such learning scenarios.

As far as the development of learning awareness and language awareness are concerned, the necessity to integrate these into the general framework of aims and competences that need to be worked towards in language learning has long been recognized. This is, for example reflected in the definition of the linguistic dimension as put forward by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which points out that the linguistic dimension in language learning is seen as consisting of a multiple of strands – including

  1. reflection upon learning progress,

  2. sociocultural competence, and

  3. functional-notional categories.

In general, learning guided by the principles outlined above would follow a constructivist framework for learning, which – as stated before - basically adheres to an understanding of learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas based upon their current and past knowledge. Without intending to go into further detail, I would still like to share the following quote on construction-based language learning, as to my mind this statement puts the fundamental message of such an approach into a nutshell: "„... knowledge is not passively received, but is actively built up by the cognizing subject. ... That is, as much as we would like to, we cannot put ideas into student’s heads, they will and must construct their own meanings. ...“ (Wheatley, 1991: 9) In my own words this means that i.e., learners should be given the tools & frameworks for learning to build knowledge instead of simply consuming it. In short, this is the guiding principle of all activities, including group work at workshops and the construction [sic] of our resource – the GrazVoll website.

 

Technology enhanced materials for language learning & a rich new learning environment

However, returning to the topic of ICT in VOLL (or most other kinds of language learning and looking at the kind of materials currently available for language learning, it must be said that the market is still dominated by a large number of traditional computer-based training packages. This kind of software is best described by metaphors such as drill & kill or grammar hammer. There is still too much of the instructional kind and too few of the learning tools or edutainment type available. Publishers all too often rely on designing impressive multimedia enhanced packages which hide the fact that most of the interactions provided are an adaptation of simple traditional exercise formats to an electronic platform. The large number of vocabulary drills, multiple choice and gap-filling exercises or similar tutorial formats bears witness to the fact that this is true for materials on CD-ROM as well as, more recently, online packages distributed via the internet. Quite often, technical considerations and the power of multimedia features dominate the design of technology enhanced materials for language learning. Multimedia options, such as sound, picture, animation, and video are in a number of instances integrated into courseware not because such features are needed for a learning purpose or in order to assist the acquisition of specific skills, but simply because it gives the product a sexier, more attractive look.

The points raised so far seem to suggest that the value of existing materials for language learning purposes is rather limited. There are, however, a number of areas and language learning contexts within which new technologies are being used successfully. And this is the starting point of our activities and the criterion for including certain applications in our resource. As far as a rich learning environment is concerned, Legutke put forward six metaphors for how a language classroom could best be defined exploited in a more fruitful way. These I would like to exemplify with the following graph:

Basically, these metaphors call for more flexibility both in the arrangement of learning scenarios and in the way teachers organise their classroom. In short, they could be described as follows:

Following this first elaboration on the metaphors suggested by Legutke let us now briefly consider, how these have guided the work of the ICT in VOLL project so far. In addition, we would like to demonstrate how the results of previous workshops are channelled into the GrazVOLL website in order to provide the VOLL community with a resource geared towards enabling teachers to put into classroom practice the ideas for flexible and innovative learning arrangements reflected through these metaphors. As far as the idea of situating language learning in a kind of project room and or workshop is concerned, two areas are involved. The first is the exploitation of technology enhanced tools and resources in project-based and product-oriented learning scenarios. The theoretical principles of such approaches as well as the software tools together with samples of good practice are made available via the DDL (data-driven learning) section of the GrazVOLL website:

Two main aspects are dealt with – concordancing and authoring tools, as these are particularly suited for learner-centred projects.

Obviously, internet projects of the kind documented by Reinhard Donath on the

http://www.englisch.schule.de/ website and some of the aspects of web-based learning scenarios presented in the web literacy and networked learning sections of our own website are a good example for turning a traditional classroom into a project room and workshop. This observation underlines the fact that sometimes a clear and final designation of a particular aspect of the use of ICT in language learning to only one of the above metaphors is difficult or even artificial, as a technology enriched learning environment is by definition based on a multimodal, multifunctional, networked and diversified approach to learning.

Let us, therefore, continue our tour of the GrazVOLL website. Many areas are to be considered when trying to fill the slot identified as training centre in the above graph. Exercise materials created by teachers using authoring tools come to mind, but the main focus of the ICT in VOLL project with regard to this has been based on the observation that a large part of what publishers and other providers offer in terms of technology enhanced learning materials are, in fact, training and practice materials either intended for self-study or in combination with textbooks. Here, of course, a number of questions arise as to the quality and assessment of such software (often even referred to as learnware) and to points of reference for choosing and selecting suitable materials for one's classroom or individual groups of learners.

Consequently, an important section of our website focuses on software selection criteria and learnware assessment. In addition, this section tries to relate its resources to the European Common Framework for Languages in order to provide a solid basis for the criteria put forward and tested in the course of the project at the various workshops. As said above, the vast majority of technology enhanced materials for language learning still follow the footsteps of traditional, workbook-style exercises for self-study. In fact, this seems to be the type of material which automatically comes to mind when teachers are asked about the potential contribution of new media to language learning. Such materials usually package existing exercise formats into an interactive multimedia-enhanced platform. Apart from the usual diet of tutorial tasks, activities that deal with matching, text reconstruction and text manipulation exercises offer additional kinds of learning activities more in line with innovative methodology. Quite often computer-specific forms of interaction, such as drag & drop are used to provide more exploratory learning modes. And the software evaluation sheet made available via the GrazVOLL website proposes criteria to effectively assess and evaluate this type of learnware.

As far as the observatory is concerned, i.e. a space in the language curriculum where learners are encouraged to handle authentic materials and observe and process actual and real-life language use, new technologies offer several opportunities. When it comes to finding innovative examples of the use of new technologies in language learning, any tool that allows for the creation of discovery-based and exploratory, observation-oriented learning materials must rank very highly within a typology of TELL software. One such tool is concordancing software, originally developed as a device to assist research in corpus linguistics. Concordances used to compile context lists and to offer additional insight into the meaning of words, to experience the company words keep, and to gain full insight into difficult structures are one way of opening an observatory. Such a tool can be used with any textual corpus, i.e. a potentially unlimited number of texts compiled into a database. Its basic function is to extract lists with sample contexts of any word or structure entered into the search option:

Such lists can then be used as a basis for what Tim Johns (1994) refers to as data-driven learning. Considering the example above, a learners' task linked with such a selection of concordances would be for them to deduce themselves the exact difference in meaning, connotation, and grammatical features with regard to the verbs look, see, and watch. Grammatical rules can be acquired in such a discovery-based or exploratory mode, e.g. on the basis of lists with concordances of adverbs, offering learners the opportunity to discover rather than to be taught a rule concerning adverbs and word order in English sentences. Tim Johns provides a complete website with samples and links on data-driven learning (http://web.bham.ac.uk/johnstf/timconc.htm). In addition, Chris Tribble (1997) has published an interesting manual on Using Concordances in the Classroom.

However, another equally potent option to support the transformation of a learn room into an observatory is the exploitation of the World Wide Web and its vast, seemingly limited resources. However, it is obviously impossible to simply let the learners loose and ask them to surf the web without guidance. Therefore, one of our groups has been working on aspects of exploiting web-based resources for language learning, including the development of guidelines and activities geared towards the skilful use of the internet:

This actually provided the basis for a very thorough study of such issues, a spin-off of the first workshop as it were, to be found in the section of our website dedicated to Web Literacy.

As far as the communication centre is concerned, telecommunications and telecooperative projects are of great value. Obviously, telecommunications is seen by many as the major medium for distributing learning materials in the future as well as for creating a more flexible organisational framework for learning by means of virtual learning groups and telecooperative tutoring. As far as language learning is concerned, the internet and e-mail have already been established as a medium for learning well beyond the exploitation of online resources for classroom use. E-mail is used to integrate authentic stimuli for communication into the curriculum. Electronic pen-pals and multinational project groups and learning partnerships using e-mail and the web for cooperative learning are examples of this. In addition, the use of chat rooms and multi-user domains (MUDs or MOOs) is currently being experimented with in view of their potential for language learning.

These and other aspects are the domain of the Networked Learning section of the GrazVOLL website:

Among the examples discussed at the workshops is the transfer of tandem learning onto a telecommunication platform, where partnerships between language learners are formed and supported by a special server at Bochum University. This International Tandem Server (http://www.slf.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/index.html) also contains a section which describes the principles of tandem-based language learning in more detail.

A very important aspect when looking at the potential of new technologies and telecommunications not just for language learning but also for the development of intercultural competence is the exploitation of such resources for project work that goes beyond the actual classroom. Reinhard Donath (1997) has described a variety of projects which focus on this. Again, knowledge construction rather than formal instruction and co-operation in a (virtual) international team are more in line with developing language competence suitable for the knowledge society than traditional instructivist modes of teaching and learning. In addition, process-oriented learning focussed on a joint product, often published on the internet, is also a tremendous motivation for learners to engage in language learning. The topics dealt with in the context of such projects range from political and historical themes, such as the Northern Ireland Peace Process, Native Americans, and New England – where the old meets the new, to cultural topics, e.g. literature (there are some interesting websites created by learners of English on Paul Auster or Kurt Vonnegut, to name but two examples), and the joint analysis of pop songs or video clips. 

Finally, the definition of a rich learning environment, even in terms of metaphors, would not be complete without acknowledging the fact that there still is a vital role for a teaching centre. Often, particularly in VOLL related learning contexts, claims are made that new technologies would best be exploited in terms of completely self-directed and individualised self-study-based learning scenarios. However, the teacher will still be a very important player in the language learning game. Consequently, we have included a section on our resource dedicated to Teacher Training:

As one of the contributions suggests, the teacher is very much seen in a role as facilitator and moderator of the technology-enriched learning environment proposed in this presentation. The "guide on the side" is a metaphor often used, as is the idea of regarding the teacher as an important interface in ICT-enhanced learning scenarios.

Appropriation of technologies

However, as Andreas Lund points out, the metaphor of the guide on the side may often prove to be too simplistic and romantic when faced with dynamic and complex ICT-infused learning environments. Studies show that despite the indisputable potential of new technologies, teachers experience severe problems in exploiting this potential {Becker, 1994 #287; Becker, 2000 #158; Cuban, 1986 #70; Cuban, 2001 #344; Dillemans, 1998 #4; Erstad, 1998 #253; KUF, 1998 #28; Schofield, 1995 #138}.

Often, the reason is to be found in a mismatch between the ‘traditional’ educational setting with its goals and exam oriented curriculum in the form of a single-subject lesson on the one hand, and the transcending and transforming potential of ICTs on the other. Exploiting the full potential of ICTs, we need to acknowledge their capacity for compressing space and time and how they are becoming a part of our lifelong learning, whether at school, at work, or at home. These aspects can hardly be expected to materialise within a traditional setting as described above.

The series of GrazVOLL workshops has addressed this most important issue along with researching and developing examples and models for language learning in ICT-rich environments. Working in close contact with teachers and teacher educators tells us that what is needed is an analytical tool for approaching teachers’ (and learners’!) practices with ICT. One such tool may be provided in the form of appropriation.

The concept of appropriation is attributed to the Russian linguist and critic Michael Bakhtin (1895 – 1975). Bakhtin ties appropriation to the use of language, how it is always found in the midst of social interaction, borrowing from others and projecting intentions at the same time. To Bakhtin, language is ‘half alien’ to us until we adopt it to our own purposes. This principle may just as well describe how we encounter technologies in schools and other institutional contexts. As ICT have been developed by technicians, usually for administrative and commercial purposes, and are often extremely complex, we as educators need to ‘inhabit’ these technologies, infuse them with our own intentions, thereby making them our own, i.e. appropriating them. Consequently, this is very much a social process where people, technologies and the settings they work in constitute an information ecology.

Another ‘alien’ element is the way languages change under the impact of technologies. This is in itself a vast topic. Suffice it to say that the advent of new channels (email, chat, MOOs, platforms, the cell phone), digital networks bridging linguistic communities, and (possibly as a result) a plethora of linguistic subcultures challenge and change the standardisation of languages {Crystal, 2001 #297}. The language teacher at the beginning of the new millennium faces fundamental changes in subject matters as well as in teaching practices.

At the heart of appropriation are transformation and dialogism; we transform the technology as well as our practices in dialogue with others. Such processes require creative participation from those involved in the appropriation process. This is the constructivist element that has served as an underpinning for the workshop series. Whenever we engage in interaction with people and ICTs, we appropriate and construct insights, knowledge, skills. But since they, like Bakhtin’s language, may be half alien, we need to inhabit them with our intentions. Insights, knowledge, skills become transformed according to our needs and purposes. When this does not happen, resources offered by other people and artefacts remain uncultivated and ‘alien’.

At the end of the workshop series, appropriation has become a key concept when analysing and discussing people’s encounters with ICT. When we try to apply it to the more tangible process of relating to ICT, the following dimensions point to how we appropriate them. With rapid change and development in language and learning/teaching approaches as well as technologies, the appropriation processes of teachers might be one of the major roads to explore in order to advance and improve our understanding of what goes on in the classroom of the 21st century. In their article, Appropriating Tools for Teaching English: A Theoretical Framework for Research on Learning to Teach, Grossman et al {Grossman, 1999 #163} define five dimensions of appropriation that reflect degrees of in-depth understanding. In the following, the five ‘levels’ are kept, but altered in order to accommodate the complexity and dynamics of the ICT-rich environment. Consequently, the following should be regarded as dimensions, a repertoire of comprehension and application (a similar model is to be found on the website at ê <http://www.ecml.at/projects/voll/our_resources/graz_2002/ttraining/theory/index.htm> with links to examples).

Such a set of appropriation dimensions might help generate insights into teachers’ use of technology and hypotheses on how best to promote fruitful exploitation. Although not stated explicitly in the above dimensions, it is implicit that appropriating ICT will fail if they are not introduced with their conceptual underpinnings, or removed from the social context in which they are meant to serve.

Summary

This paper has shown how the tremendous changes initiated by the new technologies necessitate a re-thinking of the way we teach and learn. This is particularly true for language learning, as language and intercultural competencies are of extreme importance for living and working in the knowledge society. A growing demand for language learning, however, cannot be met by courses and software following a traditional, behaviourist and instructional methodology. It is argued that a constructivist paradigm for learning, focussing on learning in terms of knowledge construction rather than knowledge transmission, is better suited for a kind of language learning that leads to the development not only of communicative and structural skills but which also integrates language awareness and learning competence as equally important aims into its curriculum.

Following an assessment of the current state-of-the-art of Technology Enhanced Language Learning, the ICT in VOLL project and the GrazVOLL website was presented as a powerful resource (under development) which is used as a focal point of all the activities of the project in order to put our process-oriented and product-focussed approach into practice at each event of the series of workshops.

In summary, it must be stated that over the past decade, language learning theory has seen a shift from a highly guided to a more open learning environment, with constructivism as a new and very much learner-centred paradigm for learning. Learning is seen as a self-structured and self-motivated process of knowledge construction and the learner is regarded as a self-governed creator of knowledge. In addition to the undeniable need to achieve instructional goals, the development of cognitive and strategic abilities suitable for the knowledge society is defined as one of the principle aims of a learning process based on knowledge construction and discovery learning. As far as new technologies and their use in language learning are concerned, this paper has shown that technology enhanced materials do have a lot of potential to assist the process of innovation which is needed in this field as much as in any other area of education. However, in order to achieve this aim, such materials need to be made use of less in a role as instructional systems and exploited more in a role as tools for teaching and learning

 

References