Providing an Effective and Affective Learning

Download PDF
1 downloads 6611 Views 959KB Size Report
Comment
goal of the course—to encourage and to help students develop a deep ... CALL, computer application, hypermedia, multimedia, phonetics, pro- nunciation, Spanish .... 2) The logic of the technical linguistic vocabulary is another code which.
Fenfang Hwu

Providing an Effective and Affective Learning Environment for Spanish Phonetics with a Hypermedia Application Fenfang Hwu Bowling Green State University ABSTRACT Textbooks and audiocassettes have long been the only devices used to support Spanish phonetics learning even though they are not especially effective in (a) assisting some aspects of Spanish phonetics learning, (b) positively influencing affective variables such as self-confidence and motivation, and (c) reducing cognitive loads required by the multiple encoded language used in the learning process. Without appropriate teaching materials, the instructional focus of Spanish phonetics has been restricted to the intellectual comprehension of the subject. As a result, the essential goal of the course—to encourage and to help students develop a deep understanding of speech—has been overlooked. However, the use of certain features of hypermedia computer technology now makes it possible to create an environment that not only addresses the different needs of students but also helps them to develop an introspective awareness of speech. This writer integrated various features of advanced authoring systems to create the prototype of a Spanish phonetics application. The objectives of this project were to remedy the inadequacy of traditional Spanish phonetics methodology and to meet the various needs of the diverse student population taking Spanish phonetics at the university level. KEYWORDS CALL, computer application, hypermedia, multimedia, phonetics, pronunciation, Spanish phonetics, speech

INTRODUCTION To understand the learning of Spanish phonetics, we first need to define the discipline and take note of the objectives to be achieved in its study. In Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

115

Effective and Affective Learning for Spanish Ladefoged’s (1982, 1) terms, “phonetics is concerned with describing the speech sounds that occur in the languages of the world.” Phonetics is also said to be “the indispensable foundation of all study of language” (Sweet 1877, in Esling 1992, 244) because “the spoken language is the essential vehicle by which language is normally perceived, acquired or taught” (Brown 1977, in Esling 1992, 244). Having a basic knowledge of phonetics is therefore indispensable to any person who works with language. For example, language teachers need theoretical and practical knowledge of phonetics to diagnose the pronunciation errors made by students and to devise means for correcting them. Students of languages also need knowledge of phonetics to help them monitor their pronunciation (Catford 1988, 1). By representing speech and accent as academic subject matter, Spanish phonetics aims to approach pronunciation at an advanced level of language proficiency for upper-division undergraduate students or beginning graduate students. The objectives of Spanish phonetics courses can be divided into four areas: (a) to assist students to improve their pronunciation through monitoring and recognition of problems stemming from their native language, (b) to help students associate the sounds of the language with spelling, (c) to expand students’ knowledge of the various dialects of the language, and (d) to introduce students to the field of phonetic and phonological analysis.

SPANISH PHONETICS INSTRUCTION

WHICH FEATURES NEED BETTER ALTERNATIVES? Although “it is perfectly possible to gain a good theoretical knowledge of phonetics through reading” (Catford 1988, 2), it is the ability to capture the differences between various sounds by listening to speech samples and by manipulating articulators in one’s vocal tract that establishes the foundation of a deep understanding of the subject. However, students taking traditional Spanish phonetics courses are rarely taught or even encouraged to contrast sounds through listening or consciously controlling articulators. Such courses emphasize learning the sound system intellectually at the expense of gaining practical knowledge and skills. Students study notes from instructors’ lectures or explanations given in textbooks, learning approaches which often result in students’ incorrectly associating new sounds with sounds they are already familiar with. Further, in spite of the lack of training in recognizing pronunciations by ear, students are often expected to do live phonetic transcriptions in classroom practice sessions or examinations. Audiocassettes have long been the primary device used by most instruc116

CALICO Journal

Fenfang Hwu tors to demonstrate sounds and have also been made available for students’ use outside the classroom. However, due to the limited technical capacity of audiocassette players and the linear nature of audiocassettes, it is often difficult to locate a specific item without rewinding the audiocassette back and forth many times. This time consuming practice creates unpleasant interruptions in the flow of learning in the classroom. Consequently, demonstrations of sounds by means of audiocassette players are usually conducted only at the end of lectures and cover a long list of items and exercises designed for a variety of purposes. Students who use audiocassettes in conventional language laboratories also have to deal with the frustrating problem of winding and rewinding audiocassettes. Some instructors have adopted alternative approaches such as live demonstrations in the classroom. However, bringing informants into the classroom is not always feasible because finding such people and scheduling their visits to classes can be difficult. Even when informants are brought into the classroom, certain pronunciations (e.g., those of casual pronunciation) cannot be readily elicited in this formal setting. The most serious problem with this approach is that informants are not accessible to students outside of class. In many cases, crucial differences between different sounds are too subtle to be easily detected by the ear in a single listening session. Repetition is mandatory and is better performed by a machine than by a human. Students who take Spanish phonetics courses at the university level typically have very different backgrounds, e.g., native speakers versus nonnative speakers and beginning graduate students versus upper-division undergraduate students. Because of their different backgrounds, individual students’ abilities to differentiate sounds and to capture the essential features of specific sounds can vary drastically. For example, while certain English allophonic variations seem to be indistinguishable to native speakers of English, they are quite distinct to native speakers of Spanish, and vice versa. Furthermore, while native speakers of Spanish do not need to improve their pronunciation of Spanish, non-native speakers do. A psychological factor also needs to be taken into account when conducting listening or pronunciation exercises in the classroom. Some students may feel embarrassed when they make mistakes or do not succeed in performing assigned tasks. In light of the varying backgrounds and personalities of a diverse student population, a tool that can accommodate different learners’ needs would be very useful. Through the experience of teaching Spanish phonetics, this writer has observed that some students seem to have difficulty grasping and retaining phonetic concepts even after attending the lecture and reading the textbook. In fact, one of the difficulties that American students who study Spanish phonetics frequently encounter is attributable to the multiple encoding nature of the language used for instruction in which at least three Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

117

Effective and Affective Learning for Spanish codes can be identified (see Dodigovic 1993). 1) The natural language itself constitutes the primary code, which may still be a barrier for students at this level of instruction. 2) The logic of the technical linguistic vocabulary is another code which makes many language students feel uncomfortable due to the lack of training. 3) The third code involves the specialized field of knowledge which deals with phonetic axioms and which is difficult for some students because they have not succeeded in decoding the first or second codes. In order to comprehend a concept fully, each code has to be successfully decoded and understood with respect to the other two. This substantial mental processing requirement places additional cognitive load on those students who are less proficient in either the language or the linguistic logic. As shown in the following example, not having a solid working knowledge of phonetics can have a detrimental effect on the subsequent learning of phonology. In an e-mail survey ([email protected]) which sought to uncover some of the aspects of phonological theory that are difficult for students to learn, Brush Beaumont reported electronically on 19 May 1997 that teachers listed “relatively basic aspects (point of articulation, hearing differences, etc.)” as some of the aspects of phonetics that were surprisingly difficult for students. Nevertheless, these basic aspects are precisely those which should be taught in a phonetics course. However, accomplishing this goal requires more than simple intellectual comprehension of the subject. Because of the paucity of adequate tools to address the aforementioned needs, training that goes beyond the intellectual comprehension of Spanish phonetics has not been given sufficient attention. In the next section, computer assisted language learning (CALL) presentations of Spanish phonetics are discussed which offer an effective means of improving Spanish phonetics instruction.

USING TECHNOLOGY IN SPANISH PHONETICS INSTRUCTION Computers have been widely used in speech science and phonetic research. Introductory Spanish phonetics courses can also take advantage of current computer technology, especially its hypermedia capability, to improve students’ pronunciation at the level of speech awareness and correction of common problems. To determine how computer technology can facilitate learning, one must examine what kinds of techniques have been used in different areas of pronunciation training and how computers 118

CALICO Journal

Fenfang Hwu can help in each one. A host of researchers have reported on pronunciation, phonetics training methods and learning devices (see, for example, MacCarthy 1978; Wong 1987a, 1987b; Chun 1989, 1991; Molholt 1988; Vila and Pearson 1990; Rochet 1990; Esling 1992; Stenson et al. 1992; Spaai and Hermes 1993; Hiller et al. 1994; Lilly and Paris 1995; Foley 1996; Pennington and Esling 1996; and Joiner 1997). Although recommended instructional techniques contain several variations, three common types of training emerge: (1) auditory training (which involves focused listening for sound identification) (2) articulatory training (which concerns teaching articulatory postures and movements), and (3) articulatory training through electronic visual display or diagnostic feedback. Many researchers agree that auditory training directing students’ attention to the ways in which people speak and sounds differ is an important step in pronunciation training. For example, MacCarthy (1978, 10) pointed out that the reason that foreign residence alone does not guarantee improvement in pronunciation is due partly to the fact that most people fail to notice how other people actually speak. Wong (1987b, 12) shared a similar view when she claimed that exposure to the target language alone does not guarantee results for pronunciation development and noted that “for many learners, it is focused listening that makes a difference.” Rochet (1990, 121) also indicated that because monitoring plays a very important role in the acquisition of an acceptable L2 pronunciation, it is reasonable to conclude that auditory training should be an integral part of pronunciation training. Since one of the objectives of Spanish phonetics courses is to assist in improving students’ pronunciation, auditory training should also be an indispensable part of instruction. In fact, training students to distinguish sounds by ear is not only one of the objectives of phonetics courses but an essential prerequisite to the study of phonetics itself. Not being able to hear differences between sounds makes the description of their articulatory features less meaningful and more difficult to be stored in the long term memory. According to Rochet (1990), one of the advantages of a computer-based auditory training system is the computer’s capacity to give students instantaneous and random access to any segment in a databank of sounds, words, and phrases which they can tap at will and use at their own pace. The advantage of instantaneous and random access is particularly obvious in those cases in which a large number of data is involved, immediate access is essential, and perhaps frequent repetition of selected items is necessary. Rochet (1990, 120) also points out that “one of the easiest and most efficient ways to teach accurate pronunciation of L2 phones is through articulatory instruction, given in the form of corrective statements following the diagnosis of faulty pronunciations.” For phonetics courses, articulatory training is equally important. As Catford (1988, 2) has stated, “what Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

119

Effective and Affective Learning for Spanish the competent phonetician must acquire is a deep, internally experienced, awareness of what is going on within the vocal tract.” This awareness involves gaining “an ability to analyze, and hence describe and ultimately control, the postures, and movements of organs that produce the sounds of speech. … The acquisition of these ‘practical’ skills is by far the best way of acquiring a deep understanding [of] the principles underlying the description and classification of the sounds of speech … and is consequently of the greatest importance also for more ‘theoretical’ uses of phonetics.” What technology can offer in this area is the synchronization of animated graphics with digitized sound (see Lilly and Paris 1995). By taking advantage of this feature, the computer can simulate articulatory movement, which makes its factual description easier to understand than that conveyed by multiple encoded language. As a result, the computer can help students better capture the essence of articulatory phonetics as well as increase their retention of its principles. Studies on using electronic visual displays to teach pronunciation have been geared more toward the teaching of the suprasegmental aspects of speech—intonation, rhythm, and stress—(see Chun 1987, 1989; Stenson et al. 1992; Spaai and Hermes 1993; Hiller et al. 1994; Pennington and Esling 1996) than the teaching of the segmental aspects of speech (see Molholt 1988; Rochet 1990; Hiller et al. 1994). A major drawback in using this type of device for pronunciation training is that few ready-made lessons exist, although some uses of technology have shown great promise (see Rochet 1992; Hiller et al. 1994; and Pennington and Esling, 172). The shortcomings of this type of computerized training system include difficulty of use (substantial training being needed to operate the machine and interpret signals in a user unfriendly environment), authenticity of response (accepting reasonable deviations in students’ pronunciation from the model), and student accessibility. Because the project described here focuses on articulatory phonetics and pre-production training, that is, understanding the speech process and experimenting with different speech sounds, we will not cover the use of computerized phonetics training systems to fine tune pronunciation. In addition to its unique capability in presenting speech related data, CALL training systems also offer a private environment for working on listening and pronunciation. In such an environment, students can practice “without fear of embarrassment at phonetic inaccuracies or the number of repetitions needed for full comprehension or accuracy of production” (Pennington and Esling 1996, 171). An additional positive outcome of the use of such systems is the significant degree of learner control. According to Salaberry (1996), although the extended availability of resources in a computerized learning environment enhances the learning activity, the real reason for improved performance is the learner centered nature of instruction in this kind of environment. Salaberry (1996, 16) 120

CALICO Journal

Fenfang Hwu states that within the learner-centered approach “the interaction with extensive multimedia databases is prompted by the learner’s curiosity, program solving needs (i.e., hypothesis testing), learning style/strategy, etc.” By taking into account the problems of traditional Spanish phonetics instruction, students’ backgrounds and needs, and the advantages of hypermedia computer technology, this writer developed a prototype of a hypermedia application. The design and the development of the prototype are described in the following sections.

PROGRAM

OVERVIEW

CONTENT 1. Orthographic Rules Let us select the phoneme /s/ to illustrate the design of the prototype. Before starting a lesson on a phoneme, it is important that students—both native and non-native speakers—have an understanding of the relationship between spelling and the spoken language, which is almost entirely regular in Spanish. The orthographic rules corresponding to /s/ are included in the first unit since they are so closely related to the phoneme.

2. Articulation One of the objectives of the articulation unit is to provide a concise explanation of articulation for every allophone of the phoneme. Another objective is to help students visualize the physical process of articulation by means of animations which describe and simulate the movement of articulators and which are synchronized with narration and allophone samples. This process also helps students who have difficulty visualizing the articulation process in ordinary textual explanations and encourages them to explore and experiment with their own articulators at this early trial and error stage. The prototype program covers the variations in the pronunciation of the phoneme /s/ (e.g., predorsal /s/, /s/ aspiration, /s/ deletion, and apical /s/).

3. Listening For each variant of the phoneme /s/, students use a corresponding unit for listening practice to hear samples of dialectal pronunciation in various phonological contexts. Repeating items only requires a click of the mouse. The unit also makes comparing and contrasting sounds faster and easier since students can easily jump from one point in the program to another. In many cases, the same sets of words or sentences are chosen as examples so that students can easily compare and contrast different dialectal variaVolume 14 Numbers 2-4

121

Effective and Affective Learning for Spanish tions of pronunciation.

4. Pronunciation Practice The unit on pronunciation provides model pronunciations to point out problems commonly encountered by American students. It also features an easy to use recording and playback device to enable students to compare their pronunciation with that of the model. The prototype includes two exercises designed to correct the use of the erroneous pronunciation [z] for the letters z and s in words that have English cognates.

5. Quiz The quiz gives students an opportunity to check their comprehension of all the material covered for one phoneme. The quiz consists of three subtests. 1) The first subtest serves as a pretest to evaluate students’ intellectual comprehension of the subject. Questions are either textual or graphic and focus on the movement of articulators. Students are strongly advised to pass the first subtest before proceeding to the others. 2) The second subtest evaluates students’ ability to distinguish sounds at the word level. 3) The third subtest evaluates students’ ability to distinguish sounds at the sentence level. Each time students begin the second or the third subtest, the program randomly selects a question out of the five for each question type in the databank. The questions are carefully formulated so that no obvious patterns can be detected.

S EMANTIC STRUCTURE To help students reach particular objectives, the program offers six learning paths under a phoneme, and each path title—taken from the general course—reflects its function: Complete Class, Orthography Rules, Articulation, Listening, Pronunciation Practice, and Quiz (see fig. 1).

122

CALICO Journal

Fenfang Hwu

Fig. 1. Program Structure and Paths Each path can be accessed individually. For example, students who only want to go over the listening exercises on /s/ do not have to go through every lesson in the program. Hence, students can target their own personal objectives and follow the appropriate paths. The instructor may also concentrate on individual students’ needs and assign tasks in a specific path. The Complete Course is a path allowing access to all the materials covered under one phoneme. This path targets students who wish to preview, review, or reinforce their learning of individual phonemes. Although students follow predefined paths, they have the freedom to move from any point in the system to any other point. Movement is accomplished through either the default navigation features of each unit or the hot links in the detailed sub-menu, both of which are explained in detail in the section below. Zellweger (1989, in Search 1993, 374) has shown that “users are less likely to feel disoriented or lost when there is a predefined path that narrows their options for navigation.” Thus, each path is predetermined from the instructor’s perspective on how the lesson is to be used.

N AVIGATION The program contains two menu screens. When students enter the program, the first menu they encounter is the main menu. Here, they select a phoneme for study. Subsequently, a sub-main menu appears and presents a list of six radio buttons corresponding to the six paths (see fig. 2).

Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

123

Effective and Affective Learning for Spanish

Fig. 2. Sub-Main Menu When students click on one of the paths in the list, a more detailed submain menu containing a list of the corresponding units appears at the right side of the screen (see fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Detailed Sub-Main Menu 124

CALICO Journal

Fenfang Hwu

Students can click either on the forward button to start a linear progression through the unit contained within the selected path, or they may click directly on the specific unit they wish to use in the detailed sub-main menu. The detailed sub-main menu makes each unit individually accessible such that if students stop in the middle of a path, they can restart the program at the precise point where they stopped. Under the articulation path, a projector icon is displayed on certain submenu items to indicate that those units contain animations on articulation. This feature also enables instructors to locate animations with ease in the classroom for demonstration purposes. Within each path, the program’s default navigation leads students to follow the path (1) forward and backward one screen at a time, (2) directly backward to the very first screen, or (3) directly forward to the last screen. Students can also open up a list of the screens and move immediately to any one of them. In addition, they can leave the path and go right back to the sub-menu or use a search function to locate a specific screen.

PROGRAM

FEATURES

NARRATION Narration is used in the program in conjunction with visual displays to facilitate the processing of information (see Hoogeveen 1995). A flying textual graphic corresponding to the point in narration appears on the screen to enhance the learning effect. Students can also access the transcript of narration by clicking on the show button.

ANIMATED TEXTS SYNCHRONIZED

WITH

NARRATION

As mentioned in the previous section, one of the multimedia features included in this program is the synchronization of animated texts and narration to simulate a live lecture. This feature is used when written texts are needed to clarify points in the course.

A NIMATED G RAPHICS Graphics showing the sideview of vocal tract have been widely used in phonetics textbooks. In this program, graphics of this nature are used but are supplemented by several multimedia features. The program uses arrows and colored shapes to highlight articulators and animated graphics with digitized sound to simulate the process of articulation. As Marmolin Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

125

Effective and Affective Learning for Spanish (1991, in Hoogeveen 1995) has suggested, “our visual system is developed to handle continuously changing information rather than static pictures,” which favors the inclusion of time-based data, such as motion pictures (see also Faber et al. 1991, in Hoogeveen 1995, 349). Lilly and Paris (1995) have also shown that students’ oral production benefits from the simultaneous decoding of auditory data and sagittal representations. The synchronized integration of animated graphics and digitized sound in the program show how the articulators interact and affect the air stream— stopped or released through the mouth or nose—along with the movement of vocal cords. Since the realistic representation of information seems to lead to more natural arousal (see Hoogeveen 1995), realistic simulated oral production should stimulate students’ interest in experimenting with the production of sound. The positive effect of computer animation has already been demonstrated in other academic subjects. In a study investigating the impact of animation on students in the teaching of mathematics topics, three instructional formats were compared: text only, text plus static graphics, and text plus animation (see Szabo and Poohkay 1995). The results of the achievement posttest used in the study showed that the animation group scored higher than the graphics group and that the graphics group scored higher than the text only group. Szabo and Poohkay (1995, 625) conclude that “when animation is used to present content and is directly related to the objectives of learning, substantial gains in learning are possible, and students like it better than textual presentations.” A study on the use of computer animation in learning microbiology topics has also indicated the positive effect of animation (see Nicholls, Merkel, and Cordts 1996). Although the results of this study are mixed, students who viewed the animated tutorials scored as high or higher on posttest questions than those who used comparable textual handouts and still diagrams.

HYPERTEXT The transcripts of the narration contain hypertext sequences. When students click on a hypertext expression, a pop-up glossary window appears to explain the terminology used in the narration. Students close the window by clicking anywhere on the screen. Because the multiple encoded language used to teach phonetics can create learning obstacles, this feature alleviates some of the frustration in the decoding process for students.

126

CALICO Journal

Fenfang Hwu PROGRAM

DEVELOPMENT

THE SELECTION

OF

AUTHORING TOOLS

Like all other multimedia projects, the first question that was considered in the development process for this project was which software tools to use. The requirement for the authoring tool was that it be easy enough for a non-programmer to use yet powerful enough to support all the desired features. Visual Basic and Powerbuilder, which entailed learning a considerable amount of programming and which were not fully integrated with multimedia elements, were quickly eliminated. After doing additional research, Authorware emerged as the authoring tool of choice. Authorware included all the features needed for the project and had a very simple interface. In cases in which complex logic was required, some programming experience proved to be very helpful. Another reason that Authorware was selected was its seamless integration with Director, which is the preferred tool of many animation and video developers. The use of Authorware and Director together eliminates long existing problems involved in integrating authoring tools with video clips. Most authoring tools allow only basic control over video clips such as play and rewind, but Authorware can pass events such as mouse clicks and key presses to Director. Director was also selected because of its easy control over the precise synchronization of sound and animated graphics. One of the greatest challenges for in-house multimedia developers is graphics production. Since most developers are not artists, they often have difficulty designing attractive screen displays. CorelDraw and xReses proved to be lifesavers for this project. CorelDraw is a comprehensive drawing tool, of which CorelTrace—one of the components in the package—supports retracing and modifying the outline of scanned bitmap graphics. xReses is an image painting and editing tool. Combining both tools, all the pictures in the magazines and books were easily digitized and converted into appropriate images. Compared to the other multimedia elements, sound is the easiest element to control. Sound Forge was used to edit sound files and to eliminate noises created during the recording process.

INTERFACE DESIGN An important factor that determines the selection of the authoring tool is the user interface design of the ultimate application, which is subject to the constraints of the authoring tool. Hence, before selecting an authoring tool, designers should consider what the interface of the ultimate application is to look like and which features it is to contain. It is also important to enumerate the features that the application is to provide while searchVolume 14 Numbers 2-4

127

Effective and Affective Learning for Spanish ing for a suitable tool. The right tool can save numerous hours redesigning and programming the application. For example, the initial design of the prototype described here was to use a tree-like interface, like the one of the Microsoft Explorer, to provide easy access to each unit in the lesson and to maintain a record of students’ use of the lesson. This type of interface structure is exhaustive, and end-users do not need to make any provisional jumps to go to additional units. Unfortunately, Authorware does not provide easy implementation of this kind of interface. We therefore had to compromise and redesign the interface in order to maintain navigational efficiency.

PILOT STUDY Developing a computer application requires hundreds of hours of work in an organized developmental sequence in which each step serves as a check point to determine the direction of the next step. Therefore, before having to invest more time developing the application a second time, we decided to conduct a pilot study to find out if the instructional design and technical features of the prototype would meet the students’ needs. The feedback received from the students would then be used to revise and refine the program. Four students who were taking Spanish phonetics in the fall semester 1996 volunteered to participate in the pilot study. They were asked to work through the program, answer items in a formative evaluation questionnaire, and give oral or written comments on the design and the content of the program. The students spent approximately one hour on the program, except one student who requested further access to the program and spent an additional hour working with it. The students’ responses to the evaluation questionnaire showed that they were strongly in favor of the new approach used for teaching Spanish phonetics. They thought that the hypermedia-assisted approach (lecture, textbook, and hypermedia program) was more efficient than the other approach (lecture, textbook, and audiocassette) because it took less time to master the material. Since they had had experience with using audiocassettes in a language laboratory (for lessons other than the one on /s/), they were able to compare their experience using the program to that of using the audiocassettes. Their reactions to the efficiency of the hypermedia application correspond to those reported in several studies that compared classroom lecture to multimedia instruction (see Najjar 1996). The primary finding was that multimedia instruction shortened students’ learning time. As one student emphasized, “it is extremely important to learn a concept and hear the actual pronunciation right away.” A hypermedia computer program can easily accomplish this task because 128

CALICO Journal

Fenfang Hwu students simply point and click on items to listen to them. Another student commented that the computer program enabled her to control the amount of time she needed to repeat pronunciations and that sounds presented by means of the computer were clearer than those on the audiocassettes. Yet another student wrote that he did not understand the terminology of a sound (predorsal /s/) before using the computer software and that the traditional method (textual explanation and static pictures) took more time because it required considerably more reading and thought processing energy than the computerized method. This student’s explanation was essentially that the computer program permitted him to see and hear the sound. Finally, one student mentioned that using a moving object on a map clearly indicated the location of specific dialects. In addition to the comments listed above, students’ appreciation of the prototype was also revealed by written comments such as “it was fun to give feedback on a program that I’m sure will be helpful to students in the future” and “I liked it very much.” In sum, students’ reactions indicate that the program seems to have provided the components that matched their needs.

CONCLUSION Regardless of individual students’ career goals, whether to be a language teacher or a phonetician, Spanish phonetics courses play an important role in providing needed instruction on speech. To assure that these courses provide students with proper training to take on future tasks, the instructional emphasis has to be placed on teaching not only intellectual knowledge but also essential skills needed to differentiate sounds by ear and to control articulators. However, traditional approaches which focus only on the intellectual understanding of the sound system are not adequate for acquiring a working knowledge of phonetics. Training beyond intellectual comprehension of speech has not been previously feasible and hence almost completely neglected. Current computer technology makes it possible to create a tool that facilitates the acquisition of fundamental aspects of phonetics learning and that takes into account the cognitive load caused by multiple encoded language and students’ varying academic and personality profiles. By accomplishing these objectives, the tool should exert a positive influence on affective variables such as students’ attitude toward the course, motivation, and self-confidence. Before designing and developing this application, this writer had identified the learning experiences that need to be provided to students and had reached the conclusion that hypermedia computer technology could provide them more effectively than other means (see Kenning and Kenning 1990, 78). Hence, the design of this prototype carefully considered the Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

129

Effective and Affective Learning for Spanish objectives of the course, students’ needs, and the capabilities of technology. The preliminary pilot study shows that students perceived this application to be useful and suggests that current technology may be used to meet other instructional needs in phonetics courses.

APPENDIX Spanish Project Survey Questions

1. Please enter the last 4 digits of your SSN: ___________ 2. Demographic information: (please circle one) A. I’m a male/ female. Based on my computer experience, I consider myself as a novice user with minimal experience (word processor and/or Web) frequent user (word processor, Web, and other software packages) expert. I have learned Spanish for _______ years. This is my ________ semester since I started taking Spanish courses at the current university. I have been to a Spanish speaking country. Name(s) of the country and length of the stay:____________________________________________ 3. User perception (5 = strongly agree) (1 2 3 4 5) a. (1 2 3 4 5) b. (1 2 3 4 5) c. (1 2 3 4 5) d.

I enjoy using new computer technology. I am afraid of computers. I like learning Spanish phonetics. I believe a multimedia technology-assisted Spanish phonetics class can help me save time and learn better.

4. Which phonetic learning tasks are difficult to you? (Rank order the following, 1 = most difficult) ___ Understanding the description on how to pronounce a sound ___ Figuring out the meaning of the graphics showing the side-view of a 130

CALICO Journal

Fenfang Hwu vocal tract ___ Associating the knowledge of sounds with the actual pronunciation ___ Distinguishing by ear between different allophones or dialectal variations ___ Controlling my own articulators to produce a sound ___ Generating the sound accurately ___ Others (please specify, _____________________________________) 5. With this computer-enhanced application, I can do better on the following tasks. (Rank order the following, 1 = the best) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Visualizing the movement of articulators Associating the knowledge of sounds with the actual pronunciation Explaining and teaching someone to pronounce Spanish sounds Distinguishing by ear between different allophones or dialectal variations. Identifying speakers from different regions Self-monitoring my pronunciation Exploring and experimenting with my own articulators Reviewing some key points of the lessons Locating a piece of information Doing cross-referencing Learning at my own pace Others (please specify, ____________________________________)

6. Which of the following elements included in the program are important to you? (Rank order the following, 1= most important) ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Associating the sounds with the spelling symbols. Being able to repetitively listen to a sound, a word, or a sentence. Watching the animation of a sound production Recording my own pronunciation to compare with the model’s pronunciation. Being able to learn a concept and hear the actual sound right away Being able to locate a piece of information faster Learning in private. Learning at my own pace Computer assessment Immediate feedback on assessment Learning the problematic areas of pronunciation for native speakers of English. Others (please specify, _____________________________________)

7. Comparing the traditional with the computer-assisted approach, which Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

131

Effective and Affective Learning for Spanish approach do you think is more effective and efficient? (Check one) _____ Traditional approach (textbook/ lecture/ audio-tapes) _____ Computer-assisted approach (textbook/ lecture/ computer program) _____ No difference In order to excel in a phonetic lesson, how much time, as your best estimation, should one spend in learning and mastering the lesson with a traditional approach? And how much time should one spend with a computer-assisted approach? ____________________________________ Are there any comments that you would like to add to this questionnaire?

Muchas gracias por su tiempo y ayuda.

REFERENCES Catford, J. C. (1988). A Practical Introduction to Phonetics. New York: Oxford University Press. Chun, Dorothy M. (1991). “The State of the Art in Teaching Pronunciation.” Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics, 179193. _____. (1989). “Teaching Tone and Intonation with Microcomputers.” CALICO Journal 7, 21-46. Dodigovic, Marina (1993). “Interdisciplinary: Computer Assisted Linguistic Research and the Development of LSP Courseware.” CALICO Journal 10, 5-16. Esling, John H. (1992). “Speech Technology Systems in Applied Linguistics Instruction.” In Computers in Applied Linguistics: An International Perspective, edited by Martha C. Pennington and Vance Stevens, 244-272. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Foley, Richard. (1996). “Developing Multimedia Courseware: Two EFL Applications for Teaching Phonetics.” In Proceedings of ED-MEDIA 96, 766. Hiller, Steven, Edmund Rooney, Rebecca Vaughan, Miriam Eckert, John Laver and Mervyn Jack. (1994). “An Automated System for Computer-Aided Pronunciation Learning.” Computer Assisted Language Learning 7, 51-63.

132

CALICO Journal

Fenfang Hwu Hoogeveen, Martijn (1995). “Towards a New Multimedia Paradigm: is Multimedia Assisted Instruction Really Effective?.” In Proceedings of ED-MEDIA 95, 348-353. Joiner, Elizabeth (1997). “Teaching Listening: How Technology Can Help.” In Technology-Enhanced Language Learning, edited by Michael D. Bush and Robert M. Terry, 77-120. Lincolnwood, Illinois: National Textbook Company. Kenning, M-M. and M. J. Kenning (1990). Computers and Language Learning. Current Theory and Practice. New York: Ellis Horwood. Ladefoged, Peter (1982). A Course in Phonetics. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Lilly, Richard and Laurence Paris (1995). “Articulatory Modelling in Computer Assisted Phonetic Learning.” In Proceedings of ED-MEDIA 95, 396-400. MacCarthy, Peter. (1978). The Teaching of Pronunciation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Molholt, Garry (1988). “Computer-Assisted Instruction in Pronunciation for Chinese Speakers of American English.” TESOL Quarterly 22, 91-111. Najjar, Lawrence J. (1996). “Multimedia Information and Learning.” Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia 5, 129-150. Nicholls, Craig, Susan Merkel, and Marcia Cordts (1996). “The Effect of Computer Animation on Students’ Understanding of Microbiology.” Journal of Research on Computing in Education 28, 359-371. Pennington, Martha C. and John H. Esling (1996). “Computer-Assisted Development of Spoken Language Skills.” In The Power of CALL, edited by Martha C. Pennington, 153-189. Houston, Texas: Athelstan. Rochet, Bernard (1990). “Training Non-Native Speech Contrasts on the Macintosh.” In CALL: Papers and Reports, edited by Mary-Louise Craven, Roberta Sinyor and Dana Paramskas, 119-126. La Jolla, CA: Athelstan. Salaberry, M. Rafael (1996). “A Theoretical Foundation for the Development of Pedagogical Tasks in Computer Mediated Communication.” CALICO Journal 14, 5-34. Search, Patricia (1993). “HyperGlyphs: Using Design and Language to Define Hypermedia Navigation.” Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia 2, 369-380. Spaai, Gerard W. G. and Dik J. Hermes (1993). “A Visual Display for the Teaching of Intonation.” CALICO Journal 10, 19-30. Stenson, Nancy, Bruce Downing, Jan Smith, and Karin Smith. (1992). “The Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Pronunciation Training.” CALICO Journal 9, 5-20. Szabo, Michael and Brent Poohkay (1995). “Animation, Mathematics Achievement and Attitude toward Computer Assisted Instruction: An Experiment.” Educational Hypermedia and Multimedia 4, 625-630. Vila, Joaquin and Lon Pearson (1990). “A Computerized Phonetics Instructor: BABEL.” CALICO Journal 7, 3-29. Volume 14 Numbers 2-4

133

Effective and Affective Learning for Spanish Wong, Rita (1987a). Teaching Pronunciation: Focus on English Rhythm and Intonation. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. _____ (1987b). “Learner Variables and Prepronunciation Considerations in Teaching Pronunciation.” In Current Perspectives on Pronunciation: Practices Anchored in Theory, edited by Joan Morley, 13-28. Washington, D.C.: TESOL.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Ching-yeh Tzseng at EDS for program consultation and technical support in the development of this prototype program. I would also like to thank Alex C. Pan at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater for suggestions on the pilot study.

AUTHOR’S BIODATA Fenfang Hwu is an Assistant Professor of Spanish linguistics in the Department of Romance Languages at Bowling Green State University. Her research interests include computer-assisted and Web-based language learning.

AUTHOR’S ADDRESS Department of Romance Languages 215 Shatzel hall Bowling Green State University Phone: (419) 372-8069 Fax: (419) 372-7332 E-mail: [email protected]

134

CALICO Journal