REFLECTION 6

Reflection on CMC

Computer-Mediated Communication or CMC is not a new medium of communication as it has replaced the conventional medium of communication for decades. Society today is no longer practicing face-to-face communication because CMC is way easier and more convenient. Back in the day, job interviews were all conducted by face-to-face interviews where job applicants had to go to the place set by the company. Companies would write letters to the applicants, inviting them to turn up for interviews, and applicants had to wait for further responses by letters. In 21^st century today, technology has developed and the Internet has invented tons of social media sites. One of the most popular social media site today, especially among the youth. Instagram is also one of the multimodal online sites that feature uploading photos or image as a way of sharing with users and followers. People love Instagram so much because it is free and can be downloaded at App Store for mobile and PC, and people are more connected through photos. It has been proven by studies and researches that viewers’ gaze are directed towards image rather than text. Probably because people in modern world do not like to read or it can be that “a picture is worth a thousand words”.  Thus, it can be concluded that Computer-Mediated Communication today lessen textual communication and it has been refined to suit the revolving society. 

REFLECTION 5

Reflection on presentation week 3 (Group 10-12)

During week 3 of the semester, class of ENGL 4740 continues with the presentation by Group 10, Group 11 and Group 12. For Group 10, they successfully presented on Speakapps software which is the technology, service, and content provides online solutions for the teaching and practice of speaking skills. It contains many features such as Tandem; content management system that focuses in speaking interactions, Landblog; blog with video and audio functionality which is embedded into a virtual classroom, Video chat; a video conference that can supports up to six participants using audio and video, and Open Educational Resources (OER); a site to save and access oral production and speaking interaction task. All of these features can be access for free with high-speed internet connection. However, there are some limitations such as for Tandem, it is limited for two participants only which make the lesson less interactive and Open Educational Resources (OER), the contents are uncoordinated which led to an unspecified level of speaking.

For Group 12, they had chosen Write The World website in order to help learners’ writing skill. This website specifically focuses to enhance writing and critical thinking skills of high school students. Some of the impressive features provided by the website are writing competition, writing prompts and private group that can be created by the teacher. The website also offers fascinating topics for the learners that can help in enhancing their writing ability such as flash narrative, poem, short story, interview, reflection and free writing. Besides, students can upload their writing prompts and ask for their works to be reviewed and unleash their inner critic. However, writing prompts cannot be categorized according to the level of study. All in all, Write The World website is a good medium for younger writers to show and express their talents in writing and also helps in improving their thinking skills as well.

We believed all presentations have their own strengths and weaknesses, however, in our opinion the most suitable language learning site for English learners is British Council Learn English Teens website presented brilliantly by Group 11 because it is very comprehensive as it provides exercises and practices for every skill; listening, writing, reading and speaking for all learners from different level. Apart from that, this website offers a lot of amazing features that can help learners in improving their English, such as interactive videos, music, literature, books, film, games and interactive activities. All of this features can be use for free to ensure learners to fully enjoy their experience in learning and using the website. In addition, the website also provides courses that are taught by English language experts from British Council. The unique criteria of this website are highlighted by the interface; graphics and multimedia. It uses a well-designed graphic to enhance the learning process. Furthermore, the background of the website page is clear and pleasing to read. Besides, it also applies three CALL approach which are behaviorist, integrative, as well as communicative approach. For example, the website is applying behaviorist approach as it gives corrective feedback to learners and also offers problem-solving task that related to the communicative approach. Last but not least, this website also applies integrative approach as this website is used as a tool to connect with people through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail. Thus, this website is very practical and user-friendly which definitely suitable to be used by students in order to enhance their knowledge and skills in the English language.

REFLECTION 4

Reflection on presentation week 2 (Group 3-9)

During week two, the presentation was continued by group three until group nine. All groups present varieties of application and websites that we can use for the learning process. Group three introduced a website that could assist the learners called ‘ESOL Courses’ (www.esolcourses.com). This website is for the enhancement of listening skill where learners can improve their listening skill through various activities such as quizzes and games and it covers a lot of topics and issues too. Besides, this website is suitable for all levels starting from beginners until advanced, thus, we think that learners will learn a lot from this website because learners can practice listening to specific information and learn some new useful vocabulary.  

For the fourth group, Husna and her groupmates had chosen freereadingprogram.com websites. freereadingprogram.com is a free website that helps the teacher to set up online classroom activities. In this website, it provides an effective program for students to improve their reading skills and it also offers activities for kindergarten to Grade 6 students on reading program. However, there are few limitations in this website which are there is no full audio for the reading passage, the audio is limited to only certain words in the passage and the structure of the questions is not organized. Besides that, another limitation for this websites are this classroom activity does not provide a summary exercise for the student’s feedbacks are only given for a brief time, students cannot see the correct answers of the questions.

For group five, Afifah and her groupmates successfully presented on ESLvideo.com website. This website offers free ESL resources, lessons, and activities for learners and teachers of English. The teachers are welcome to build a library of favourites, assign quizzes, and view students’ scores in the quizzes given and it covers all levels starting from beginner until advanced. In this website, it also offers different topics and it talks about current issues. We think that this website is very useful because it will help learners a lot in learning and they can also add new knowledge and awareness about current issues that happen nowadays. Hence, for this website, we think that it meets all the criteria and evaluation of CALL appropriateness. 

   

Other groups that presented during week three are group six and seven. Group six had presented about I speak apps. This app was made by MULTICON INDIA and the focus is on enhancing speaking skills analysing your recorded speech. What we like about this app is that it is free and does not require an internet connection. It is very interesting as it attracts the learners to speak more without feeling anxious especially for those who lack confidence. Furthermore, the software is applicable to all levels as it comprises of various levels of assessment. It is also very convenient and user-friendly as learners can easily access the software without having to go through complex steps. We are ready to try this apps during our learning process later even though it has some limitation such as it is not yet supported for PC and Apple products and the questions are random and there is no feedback provided from the application.

On the following days of the week, the presentation continued by Group seven. They had presented about English Central website. This website is divided into four steps which are watch, learn, speak and go live. We think that this website meets all the requirement of all the CALL appropriateness since all the features cover everything and this website does provide feedback for its users. Besides, the web background of the website is also clear and interesting and the features on the website are easy to access. The unique about this website is that the learner can go one to one live with the tutor that they had chosen and they can get immediate feedback from the tutor. Hence, it also suitable for all level of learners starting from beginner until advance. 

The presentation then continued by group eight. Group eight found a website called Using English for Academic Purposes (www.uefap.com) for reading skill. We believe that reading skill is the easiest skill to be assessed as it only involves reading the text, understanding and answering the question regarding the text. This website provides activities such as reading text and writing the answer, reconstructing the text and note-taking. Moreover, this website is suitable for learners who want to improve the skill of self-taught as this website does not require teacher’s supervision. However, the downside of this website is it does not have level scale, so it might be difficult for learners to find the suitable text according to their level.

For group nine, they introduced a website named Cambridge English Write and Improve which it is a free service for learners of English to practise their writing skill. In our opinion, this is a great website because it offers a range of tasks to choose from, covering many different topics. Thus, learners can write on that topic in English and get instant feedback to improve their written English. There is a downside for this website which is learners can use the questions that are only stated on the website. However, we strongly believe that all websites and apps have their own strength and weakness and it depends on us which one we would like to use in order to enhance our learning skills.

REFLECTION 3

Reflection on presentation week 1 (Group 1&2)

During the first week of CALL presentation, Group 1 presented a research journal entitled “A Study on the Use of Computerised Concept Mapping to Assist ESL Learners’ Writing skill” by Pei-Lin Liu. The group’s skill was writing skill and the article they chose is a study on computerised concept mapping treatments on writing performance. Based on the literature review, Novak and Canas (2008) and Ausubel (1963) supported the concept mapping treatments because they believed that the mind is hierarchical. Thus, concept mapping allows learners to plan beforehand on what they are going to write so their writing will be organised. The subjects or participants of study are from different levels which are low, middle, and high levels of students. After the nine weeks of experiments, the result shows that the high-level subjects prefer individual mapping than cooperative mapping. It may be true as advanced learners are prone to work independently while low and middle-levels subjects like to exchange opinions and rely on others’ ideas as well. Group 1 also presented a website that focuses on improving ESL leaners’ writing skills which is WriteWell. The WriteWell website is very helpful for beginners because it provides basic guidelines on how to write essays and learners can choose any template to help them write. The feature is ‘Template Library’ and a lot of essay templates can be found there according to the users’ levels. For instance, there are argumentative essay, short story, persuasive essay, research paper, etc. The templates provide step-by-step instructions using easy sentences so it is very convenient for ESL learners. Not only beginners can benefit from the site but other students of all levels of education can use it to improve their writing skills and competency.

On the other hand, Group 2’s skill is reading skill. They presented a research article entitled “Computer-Assisted Second Language Vocabulary Learning in a Paired-Associate Paradigm: A Critical Investigation of Flashcard Software” by Tatsuya Nakata which studied the use of flashcard software in vocabulary learning and the result shows that iKnow! software is the best flashcard software among all other flashcard software. However, there is no basic guideline provided so users may experience a little difficulty at first. To add, the group chose a website called Merit Software which is online and web-based reading comprehension software as a learning platform. As noted, reading comprehension is the least scored skill in every examination such as MUET and EPT. So, the chosen website for reading skill was expected to provide a lot of features and guidelines on how to do well for the particular skill. However, Merit Software is not very helpful because it is not organised and we personally think that the exercises are too difficult for the levels of students. The site is outdated and we find it hard to use because we have to search around and look for the features. To add, learners might find it unattractive because of its old-school appearance so the site has to be updated to suit the 21st-century style of technology.

REFLECTION 2

Reflection on CALL and creation of new knowledge

CALL is defined as "the search for and study of applications of the computer in language teaching and learning." CALL is divided into phases of development as follows: Behaviouristic CALL, Communicative CALL, Integrative CALL (Multimedia CD-ROM), and Integrative CALL (Internet).

The reason why CALL is used in learning language is that computers can do some of the work of the teachers as it will make it easier for the teachers to use and provide great assistance to the learners even without the presence of the teachers. Learning with the computer will allow the learners to interact with both the program such as website or software as well as interact with other learners. For example, we believe that when technology is incorporated in the classroom, the students will have more opportunities to explore their learning. This increases motivation and students’ engagement as well.

Creation of new knowledge is believed to be formed through interactions between knowledge in human minds. For example, we believe that CALL approach should be applied comprehensively as learners will make a lot of progress because they find using technology in the learning process is interacting, motivating and interactive. Thus, it can be said that when learners further practice and improve their language skills, they will be able to create a new knowledge between the learners as they continuously transfer, combine and converse during the learning process. Furthermore, education is one of the vital elements in creating new knowledge because it requires someone with relevant information and the knowledge needs to be spread and practiced.

REFLECTION 1

Reflection on experience on CALL

From our experience finishing the Bachelor of English Language courses that have been assigned to us, there are a lot of assignments which require the aids of computer. Indeed, 90% of the assignments should have been finished using a computer. For this subject, we have been given a few assignments throughout the semester and the first assignment given is related to computer-assisted language learning (CALL). The purpose of using CALL is to find ways to incorporate computer technologies that promote educational learning throughout the language learning process. This type of assignment is categorised as communicative CALL as the learners are engaged in problem-solving which we have to solve by ourselves with the help of a computer as the tool for reaching our goals which in our case is to speak confidently and fluently and to foster the interactivity between the learner and the learner, and learner and computer.

For this assignment, we have to randomly choose one approach from these five approaches (listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar) and we were lucky to be the ones doing the speaking approach in CALL. After that, as a group we will have to come together in finding the article that is suitable and related with our approach which is speaking approach. Next, we were required to find an interactive website or application or software that can assist us in language learning. Thus, we have chosen a website called English Central.

English Central is an interactive website that is the leading provider of online English conversation solutions. This website combines web’s best English videos, an adaptive vocabulary learning system and live tutors which is delivered over web and mobile. This website is suitable for all levels which includes beginner, intermediate and advanced. Besides, this website helps the learners in learning the language especially in enhancing the speaking skill where it encourages the learners to speak more by watching the videos provided and speak the selected words. The learners can also involve in a useful live chat rooms where the tutors are from different parts of the world. We could see that this method could be helpful for the learners’ speaking skill as it exposes them to the authentic discourse when they converse with native speakers. Not only that, this could also indirectly help in enhancing their listening skill.

Lastly, we had to present our findings in front of the class and had a Question and Answer session to trigger more feedbacks from the audiences. From the presentation and Q&A session in class we could see that CALL can be used in teaching and learning English Language as it could help the process of learning to be more interesting and enjoyable for the learners. Not only that, it is also suitable for helping the learners in acquiring or enhancing all LSRWG skills. Obviously, different CALL approaches would suit different skills and different level of language learners.

INTRODUCTION

Computer Applications in Language Studies is a subject that will be taken by BENL students in IIUM. This subject is taught by Dr. Rozina and for this subject, we were divided into few groups and each group have approximately four to five members. There are three assessments for this subject which are Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and Corpus Linguistics (CL). 

The first assessment is CALL, where we had to find suitable websites or software or applications and we had to select one skill among these five skills; Listening, Speaking, Writing, Reading and Grammar. After that, together with the selected article that is suitable for this assessment, we did a research that would help teachers and learners in language studies. 

The second assessment is CMC where we need to analyse a particular corpus using any linguistics framework that we had been studying such as Halliday's Metafunctions and Multimodal Theory.

The third assessment is CL. For this assignment, we studied few topics such as Concordancer, Lexicography, Computational Stylistics and Forensic Linguistics. We also had to do a group test during our class regarding these topics.