Article Review

Title: Creating Constructivist Learning Environment for Japanese EFL Students: A Digital Story Program

Journal: Asian EFL Journal (June 2008, Volume 10, Issue 2, Article 2)

Link: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/June_08_gw.php

Authors' Background:

Guofang Wan received her Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University. Currently she teaches both graduate and undergraduate majors at Ohio University, USA. She has a long-term passion for exploring effective ways of language instruction, and using technology and storytelling to enhance language instruction in Asian countries. Her book Media-Savvy Student was published in 2004.

Rex Tanimoto teaches EFL at Osaka Gakuin University, Osaka, Japan. His interests are creating and producing narrative-based learning activities through digital visual and audio formats and techniques. His latest book, New Storyteller, was published by Macmillan Language House, 2006).

Dr. Rosalyn Anstine Templeton is Executive Dean and Professor of Education in the College of Education and Human Services at Marshall University, West Virginia, USA. She is an expert in special education including and teaching ESL students in regular classrooms.

B. Summary of the Article:

This research aims to assess the effectiveness of FM Magic, a web-based multimedia English program that teaches EFL in a Japanese University. The purpose of creating FM Magic is to replace the teacher-centered approach in high school and university language classrooms, which was mostly based on the grammar-translation approach, and turn it into a constructivist and authentic learning environment for students. This research is conducted to see whether the learning environment created by the FM Magic program could be conducive to language learning for the EFL Japanese students. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in this research. One of the instruments used for the assessment is the Constructivist Multimedia Learning Environment Survey (CMLES) which contains 30 questions. The students were asked to rate the actual demonstration of constructivist characteristics in the classroom at the end of the course on a scale of 1 to 5 (‘Almost Never’, ‘Seldom’, ‘Sometimes’, ‘Often’ and ‘Always’). The Student Open-ended Questionnaire containing 10 questions was also used to support the finding of the CMLES. The samples were 79 EFL juniors and seniors taking an advanced writing course. Among the 79 participating, 59 returned their surveys. The findings from both instruments are combined and the results are divided into categories. In “Learning to Communicate,” the mean is 3.9. The students enjoy “talking” to each other on the forum. By reading their peers’ stories, they are able to build creative ideas of their own. “Learning to Investigate” and “Learning to Think” both shared the mean of 3.5. Since none of the participants had any previous online learning experience before, they were curious to explore the program. The activities encouraged them to use their critical thinking to solve the problems on their own. In addition, the stories written by the teacher served as good models and allowed them to use their imagination to create individual works based on their own perspectives. The above-average score of 3.9 for “Relevance” reflects that the students find the program as realistic and fitting with their personal lives.”Ease of use” and “Challenge” were two of the highest score in the category with 4.1 and 4.2 respectively. The FM Magic website is user-friendly and works well most of the time with the students. The colours, images, and stories are easy to apply. The program provides them with a different challenge from the monotonous learning environment that they were used to before and motivates them to want to improve on their language writing skills. Suggestions were also given in which a majority of them wished they could create their own illustrations. The desire of sharing their stories and receiving feedback from their peers was also suggested to be included in the program.

C. Reaction Towards the Article:

The research was interesting and comprehensive. Combining the traditional method of storytelling and modern technology seems like a clever way of creating a more conducive learning environment. The idea of a simulated, pre-recorded Internet radio program gives students the opportunity to experience a real-life working environment. The research was experimentally well conducted. It has high-face and content validity by using the Likert scale to rate the effectiveness of the program as well as provide open-ended questions for the researchers to make future improvements on the program. While I do agree that the use of computer stimulated activities in the classroom can enhance learning, I think it will take many years before this can be fully implemented. Even though some schools in Malaysia are equipped with computers and Internet connection, some teachers are reluctant to use them due to lack of training and time management. This is based on a personal experience I encountered during my practicum. The EST (English for Science and Technology) teacher, Puan Rozita, held a computer training session in the computer lab for all morning and afternoon session English teachers. We were taught (step-by-step) how to create a blog so that the teachers could use this activity in class. From my observation, most of the teachers had problems doing this. Some got lost and others were confused with which button labels to click on. Some of them gave up and ended up observing the others. Needless to say, our computer training session finished up quite early. In general though, I think there should be a balance between using computer technology and the traditional teaching approach. While computers enable students to be independent learners, they don’t have the capability to handle unexpected classroom situations as the experienced and human instructor can. (731 Words)

REFERENCE:

Wan, G., Tanimoto, R, and Templeton, R.A. Creating Constructivist Learning Environment for Japanese EFL Students: A Digital Story Program. Asian EFL Journal, 10 (2), 1-10. Retrieved from http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/June_08_gw.php

ESL WEBSITE EVALUATION

Website Name: Literature for Secondary Schools
Website Address: http://www.literature.com.my
Website Publisher: Just English Sdn. Bhd.
Grade/ Form: All Secondary levels (Form 1- Form 5)
Subject Area: Literature component


Q1. What does the application attempt to “teach”?

This website acts as an online resource to guide both teachers and students, not only to prepare for PMR and SPM, but also provides a broad-based approach to understand literature. This application gives students the opportunity to practice and develop specific reading comprehension and writing skills. Plus, they get to develop their grammar skills especially in the areas of adjectives, spelling and vocabulary through the interactive games provided. Basically, the objective is to enhance active learning and promote itself as a reliable and instructional ICT tool for classroom teaching.

Q2. What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?

Since the application is very user-friendly, students can actually download audio files (from ‘Extra resources’) and PDF worksheets on their own where they can use the diagrams, explanations and glossary segments to understand the literary text better and develop their language. The website also requires learners to apply higher order thinking skills so that learners are critical as well as creative.

Q3. What sorts of computer skills is the application users expected to have in order to operate/ access/ use the application?

There are TWO actually. The first is Information Processing, whereby students have to read the questions from the PDF worksheets, understand the questions and try to come up with the correct responses for each of them. The other one would be Management skills, whereby the Flash based interactive activities provide a challenge by setting a time limit for every game, to motivate students to manage their time efficiently while attempting to give all the correct answers.

Q4. While you are “playing”/ “accessing”/ “assessing” the application, does it remind you of anything you do in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self-study?

Yes, the PDF worksheets are similar to what secondary students have to complete using the traditional paper-and-pen in the classroom. In addition, I remember the Literature Component reference books that we had to buy during the school years. I have to say the information provided (e.g. synopsis, summary, theme, language, moral values, etc.) for each short story or short poem is at par with the content of most of the reference books you purchase nowadays, except that this is free :)

Q5. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?

The application poses both cognitive and constructivist theories of language approaches. In a way, this website facilitates teaching and learning to take pace in meaningful and contextualized settings, enhance reinforcement, and motivate learners to be goal-oriented.

Additionally, multiple intelligences theory of learning is also applied in this application. The ones I’ve pinpointed are verbal/ linguistic intelligences (using their auditory and visual mode of perception to think in words and appreciate the complex meanings in the poems), visual/spatial intelligence (using their active imagination to imagine themselves as the characters and manipulate letters to make a word (e.g Word Search and Crossword puzzles, Hangman games), and interpersonal intelligence (learners use the application where they can interact with their peers as well as the teacher because it encourages communicative learning whereby they help each other to solve some of the problems found in the worksheets and flash games.

Q6. How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website?

Teachers become the facilitators when the students are doing the activities online (interactive games). Besides this, students are the active independent thinkers instead of being passive receivers of information and they also become personally involved when using this website because it allows them to learn skills in the context in which they need to be used. For example, students learn to develop their vocabulary when they are trying to think of a word that matches a description like, “Find the similar meaning of the word ‘trodden’” (taken from the Hangman game of the ‘The Road Not Taken’).


Q7. In the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a major debate on ‘whether the computer was “master” of or “slave” to the learning process (Higgins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation – was the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?

Based on my evaluation, neither. I’d consider the computer to be more of an ‘assistant’ to enhance learners’ knowledge. Bear in mind, that we are moving forward in the era of technology whether we like it or not and therefore it is important for teachers nowadays to start implementing the use of computers in the learning environment, even though they are teaching the most basic computer skills like word processing. New skills matter in the new economy, including ICT. These skills will be an advantage to students in their future careers. As researched and concluded by Towndrow (n.d.), although CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) is still searching to find its place in the study environment, it is perceived as being of benefit by the low-ability students by providing practice in grammar and vocabulary.

Q8. Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work? Yes OR No? Give reasons for your answer.

Yes, because I think it’s professionally created. What makes this website different from other ESL websites that I’ve explored is how organized it is. The contents are placed at the right-hand side of the web page and you can select whichever link you want to go to conveniently unlike other websites where you have to click on either the ‘Back’ or ‘Forward’ navigation buttons to go to other links, which can sometimes be a hassle because you can get lost searching for the page that you want to go back to.

They also allow schools around Malaysia and even Higher Institutions (view homepage of the website) to register on to their website. The Flash games are interactive, although one would have to download the latest Adobe Flash player or other similar software in order to gain access to all the games provided. Nonetheless, they capture students’ attention in the right way and motivate students to really try and understand the component taught to them. I actually used a few of the PDF worksheets for class assignments while I was doing my practical and they proved to be helpful during in-class discussion because the students had to work together to search for the answers to the questions which increased cooperative learning in my classroom.

The games and questions are not too easy nor is it too challenging. They are just suitable for secondary school students. The application also encourages critical thinking. E.g. flash games like hangman and matching correct adjectives for literature characters. It is interactive in a way that it allows users (parents, teachers, and students and others) to give feedback so that the publisher/ creators can modify any improvements needed on their website. Two-way communication is always good. Plus, it provides extra resources and links to other web pages where you can download audio files (e-book) of the literature component, which is convenient.

• Suggestions/Recommendations:

I suggest that the web publishers don’t limit user members to teachers only, but allow wide access to everyone in general. The reason is because the answer sheets to the PDF literature question sheets can only be acquired if you are logged in or signed up as a teacher.

It’s almost as good as a teaching courseware except that it only focuses on the literature component. During my practicum, I had the opportunity to use a teaching courseware which I found very educational and suitable for class lessons. The courseware included a short video of the story, “The Drover’s Wife” and my students had found it very entertaining. Perhaps this particular website could also create short videos on the short stories or just include colorful pictures with audio back-up to go with the storyline. This could prove to be effective for those who are visual learners.

Some of the flash games, like the crossword puzzles, don’t provide the answers after a user has finished playing. If there were any mistakes, the game would only put a ‘X’ next to the number that the user had answered wrongly but would not give the correct answer to the question.

Also, I wish that the flash games/ activities included some kind of compliment every time a user succeeds in completing the activity given. Or maybe even keep a record of the top scorers so that students would feel motivated to try and play the games repeatedly so that they could beat the highest score. As a student, I know I would feel both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to play the games over and over again myself because it makes learning fun :)