Exploring Media Literacy: Enhancing English Oral

Studies in English Education, 2018, 23(2), 473-500. http://dx.doi.org/10.22275/SEE.23.2.03

Exploring Media Literacy: Enhancing English Oral 2) Proficiency and Autonomy Using Media Technology*

SoHee Kim (Korea University) Kim, SoHee. (2018). Exploring Media Literacy: Enhancing English Oral Proficiency and Autonomy Using Media Technology. Studies in English Education, 23(2), 473-500. Electronic media learning environments afford English language learners more opportunities to use media technology that may require them to attain new media literacy skills. This research examines whether Korean EFL learners’ oral proficiency and autonomy can improve when using media technology. The research involved 62 university students who attended general basic-level English programs. In order to investigate their improvement, this research assessed participants’ speaking development across four digital storytelling tasks and their autonomy and attitudes towards using ICT programs and movie clips via questionnaires during an 8-week period. The participants practiced individual storytelling and created stories using three different ICT programs—Vocaroo, VoiceThread, and TTS—along with their selected movie clips to speak about the given topics in and out of the classroom. The results revealed that participants were able to improve their oral proficiency in terms of discourse based on their critical thinking about the chosen media. They also felt using ICT programs positively affected autonomy development although there was no statistical significance of correlation with their computer proficiency. Overall, participants’ computer skill to utilize media technology was an important factor for oral proficiency development. Additionally, an instructor’s feedback was significant to speaking improvement. Key words: Media literacy, autonomy, technology, media, oral proficiency

* This article is rewritten based on the author’s Ph.D. dissertation.

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I. Introduction With the development of technology, there have been considerable discoveries regarding the best ways of using digital materials and media literacy in language education (Graddol, 1997). The emergent new media technology has quickly taken on a key role in human society creating the need for individuals to become literate in new media environments in order to participate in them responsibly (Chen, 2011; Luke, 2000). New media skills also involve using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to foster a variety of learning styles because computer-mediated texts are not limited to verbal signs (Hoffmann & Eisenlauer, 2010). In this sense, media technology plays an important role in language education in the new context of media learning since using technology offers unlimited opportunities for language learners to interact with media. Thus, learners need to learn how to manage media and related technology, and many studies have shown a strong link between media literacy and computer technology as new media refers to computer and communication technologies (Chen, Wu, & Wang, 2011; Lin, Li, Deng, & Lee, 2013; Rice, 1984). Moreover, using computer technology can assist language learners to develop autonomy through cognitive and constructivist learning in which they assume self-responsibility while manipulating technology to improve foreign language proficiency. Thus, it is vital for learners to have opportunities to notice and correct their speaking errors through ICT programs and reflect on their learning process, which can in turn develop metacognitive skills to encourage autonomy (Chapelle, 1998; Kim, 2014b). Given that autonomy can be defined as learners’ ability to self-direct for practice and use critical reflection (Andrade, 2012; Little, 1991), using computer-related technology can promote autonomy in order to facilitate responsibility (Gibbons, Crawford, Crichton, & Fitzgerald, 2000; Lu, 2010). Autonomy in language learning involves taking responsibility for their learning and forming positive attitudes towards independence, choice,

Exploring Media Literacy

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decision-making, and critical reflection (Benson, 2001; Dickinson, 1993; Holec, 1985; Little, 1991). When language learners take responsibility for their own learning through a self-access and self-assessment process, they can develop metacognitive skills which include efficient monitoring processes and strategies to enhance their own autonomy (Ismael, 2015; Kellner & Share, 2005; Kim, 2014b; Kim, 2017). In particular, ICT is often used to develop speaking skills and has an essential impact on improving foreign language learners’ oral production (Smyth, 2005) through a self-access process. Considering that ICT skills are vital in new media learning and the development of learners’ autonomy, it is necessary to investigate whether computer skills can help develop media literacy in self-access learning. Furthermore, media literacy is measured by the sophistication of an individual’s

communication

skills

(Buckingham

&

Domaille,

2009;

Livingstone, 2004) which can be enhanced by media communications technologies such as film, television, print media, video games, and online and mobile media (Jenkins, 2009) to emphasize critical analysis and media production. Kung (2016)’s study concluded that the development of media literacy helped L2 learners improve their oral proficiency. Washburn (2001) also stressed that media can convey authentic linguistic information and discourse patterns to cultivate interaction with others for communicative ability. Although these studies could help to increase awareness of the relationship between media literacy and communicative competence, little research has examined. Therefore, this research investigates language learners’ oral proficiency in terms of discourse through media interpretation and production tasks—specifically, digital storytelling using media and technology. This research also attempts to examine the significant factors for developing autonomy and oral proficiency in self-access learning environment. Additionally, it may employ an instructional investigation to determine how media literacy development affects language outcomes when using computer technology and media.

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II. Literature Review 1. Enhancing Autonomy in Media Literacy through Media Technology Computer technology is a rich environment affecting language education due to considerable discoveries regarding the best ways of using diverse media materials. It can also provide the ability to create media products so English language learners become equipped with skills that require not only interacting with media but also to choose, create, and evaluate their own learning materials. Media literacy can be produced with digital technology, which can promote creativity and the development of self-confidence (Buckingham & Domaille, 2009; Duncan, 2006). Specifically, while language learners engage in the use of computer technology with various media materials, they should be encouraged to use their own media technology to access, analyze, and create media to exercise freedom of expression (Abdul-Hamid & Mustaffa, 2007; Ralph, 2013). This process leads to a self-access learning environment that learners can direct and use to assess their individual learning, while functioning as autonomous learners (Sheerin, 1989) since this creativity enables language learners to enhance their identity, which can foster their competence and facilitate independent learning (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Lu, 2010; Silverblatt, Ferry, & Finan, 2009). This strongly indicates that computer literacy may foster language learners’ autonomy because learning results from a learner’s own responsibility to undertake a self-organization process (Hsieh, 2016). Since media literacy provides language learners with the ability to create media products that require computer technology (Ontario Ministry of Education, 1989), computer skills can empower learners and increase their ability to think, learn, and communicate as well as providing meaningful activities that allow them to construct their own knowledge. Therefore, learners not only can


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foster creativity and develop self-confidence but also support the process of creative thinking to improve language learning. Furthermore, media technology leads to a creative environment that provides cognitive development and critical thinking. Importantly, cognitive development using technology and media should be considered as a cornerstone when building on learners’ autonomy and higher-order thinking to promote creativity, self-expression, and critical thinking for media literacy development. In media literacy motivation can also be very important to promote autonomy in the learning process because it could come from learners’ interest in using media as learning materials along with technology programs, which support various learning tasks by acting as a medium to connect with the unlimited opportunities media can offer. Therefore, language learners need to maximize new literacy skills in order to enhance metacognitive strategies for critical thinking when using media because it can influence language learners’ beliefs, perception, and attitudes. In light of this, Martin and Hottmann (2003) asserted that it requires language learners to understand how media is produced by using computer technology to construct individual meaning.

2. Oral Proficiency Development and Computer Skills Using Media Technology In recent years, digital media environments have led to increasingly visual communication

and

information

that

has

especially

benefited

for

communicative competence. This gives language learners more opportunities to use digital technology communication tools for speaking practice. Jolls (2015) maintained that media technology allows language learners limitless opportunities for exploring and communicating. Considering that media literacy refers to learners’ ability to access, decode, and evaluate media content critically in order to facilitate communication (Aufderheide, 1992;

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Silver, 2009), media education can be important to language learners’ expression of thought. Therefore, language learners’ oral production can represent their own interpretation, which is especially significant when conveying their meaning. Many previous studies also concluded that second language learners can develop their oral proficiency with media literacy (Shrum & Glisan, 1994). Communicative competence can be an essential part of media literacy in language education because media literacy can be defined as the ability to access and utilize the media for effective communication (Hobb, 1998; Kung, 2016) and serves as an indicator for measuring individual competence in media literacy (Pérez-Tornero, Celot, & Varis, 2007). Moreover, media technology has become a significant part of any higher order thinking that requires cognitive process and critical thinking when it comes to media literacy development in terms of oral proficiency in a constructive learning approach (Fu, 2013; Levin & Wadmany, 2006). Hence, technology offers new information and creative environments that increase cognitive processes and critical thinking. Bruce (1997) also strongly pointed out that learners’ achievement can depend on their abilities to use computer programs based on technological media learning environment. Since new media text combines different representational information by expressing various formats, language learners may face challenges with multimodal texts and digital technology in ways that they would not be with traditional printed literacy materials (Bok & Cho, 2015; Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1996, 2001) for communicative competence. Therefore, these new strategies ensure learners find suitable ways to produce greater outcomes on oral proficiency using media technology and examine how computer literacy can be important for media literacy. From these overall perspective, this study examined participants’ oral proficiency development and autonomy using movie clips and ICT programs, Vocaroo, VoiceThread, and Text-to-Speech (TTS) in self-access learning. Based on the belief that media technology can help improve


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language proficiency in terms of thought expression (Nomass, 2013), this research used digital storytelling, which can develop communication as a topic for discourse with various multimedia elements (Brice & Brice, 2009; Garcia-Gomez, 2010; Huffaker & Calvert, 2005; Kim, 2015). Digital storytelling supports meaningful activities that enhance language learners’ critical thinking using the analysis of media (Kim, 2016; Ohler, 2006, 2013). In addition, the participants chose their preferred movie clips, each less than three minutes long, to boost their motivation to speak about the given topic from selected websites.

3. Research Questions This study was guided by three research questions: 1) Does oral proficiency improve when using media technology? 2) Does autonomy foster when using media technology? 3) Is computer literacy an important factor to enhance oral proficiency and autonomy in media literacy?

III. Research Methods 1. Participants The participants in this study were 62 Korean EFL students (44 male and 18 female students) enrolled in basic-level courses within a general academic English program covering basic academic listening and speaking skills. They attended three different classes, but each class had the same instructor, textbook, and curriculum. Participants performed in the lower 30 percent of the university body from basic to advanced levels, and all of them scored below 550 on the TOEIC placement test. They had studied

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English in South Korea for more than 10 years, and only six had experience studying English in English-speaking countries. Most of them were freshmen (89%), with the remaining divided between sophomores (5%), juniors (1%), and seniors (5%). They had 15 different subject majors and believed that media had a strong positive effect on their speaking skills.

2. Research Procedures Table 1. Research procedures Task/Week Task 1 / week 1 Task 2 / week 3 Task 3 / week 7

Used programs VoiceThread Vocaroo VoiceThread

Task 4 / week 9

Vocaroo

Topic Music Happy ending Favorite places to go on vacation Honesty

Place Outside classroom Multimedia room Outside classroom Multimedia room

Table 1 illustrates the research procedures during which participants created four digital stories over 8 weeks. Before starting Task 1 at the multimedia lab, the instructor demonstrated how to create individual digital stories using two different programs, Vocaroo and VoiceThread: 1) the Vocaroo program (www.vocaroo.com), which can record learners’ stories developed after choosing and watching media, and 2) the VoiceThread program (www.voicethread.com), which supports a media function to create stories based on learners’ chosen media so the participants interact with technology and media simultaneously. They also learned how to post their created story links on the classroom website and use a text-to-speech program

(http://www.wizzardsoftware.com)

to

produce

the

correct

pronunciation before recording their stories on Vocaroo and VoiceThread. As shown in Figure 1, participants used Vocaroo, in which they can click the recording button on the program to tell their stories after watching their chosen movie clips. However, when using the VoiceThread program, they needed to upload their chosen images to tell stories by clicking on the


481

comment button. However, due to limited class time, participants created storytelling using VoiceThread outside of class in Weeks 1 and 7 because VoiceThread requires a certain amount of time to choose media from websites, practice speaking, and record the stories. On the other hand, participants engaged in individual storytelling using Vocaroo with a movie clip chosen from a list of five provided by the instructor in the multimedia lab on Weeks 3 and 9.

Figure 1. Vocaroo (left) and VoiceThread programs (right) Figure 2 shows that in week 3 all participants viewed Happy Ending (Yukinojouou, 2014) segment from Frozen. However, the movie clip without sound group watched a clip without audio while the movie clip with sound group was able to hear all dialogue and sound effects. In week 9, they were given two different movie clips: the movie clip with sound group received A Thief and a Liar (Movieclips, 2011), a segment from Ocean’s Eleven, and the movie clip without sound group received a clip from Charlie Chaplin’s movie, The Kid (Bilgin, 2008).

Figure 2. Movie clips for happy ending, a thief and a liar, and the kid

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During the creation process for digital stories using both methods, participants could use electronic dictionaries to find vocabulary or expressions in order to make their stories based on their move clips. After producing individual digital storytelling on each task, participants submitted their recording files to the instructor and shared their created story links on the class website to receive feedback from the instructor and two peers. The feedback was mainly about media content and speaking performance. In addition, two questionnaires (Appendices 1 & 2) were administered after each task to assess participants’ satisfaction and attitudes towards autonomy and speaking improvement using media technology.

3. Data Analysis The participants’ speaking data, their four individually recorded stories, was analyzed holistically and analytically (Appendix 3). The Common European Framework of Reference (Council of Europe, 2001) as used as a holistic rubric, with scores from 1 to 6. The analytical rubric was based on the communicative language ability (CLA) model (Bachman & Palmer, 1996), which was adapted into categories to measure discourse, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and sentence complexity, with the scores in each category ranging from 1 to 5 (Kim, 2014a, 2018). Table 2. Inter-rater reliability for each part of speech scores Cronbach’s alpha

H 0.837

D 0.826

P 0.883

V 0.826

SC 0.897

G 0.831

Total 0.850

Note. H: Holistic, D: discourse, P: pronunciation, V: Vocabulary, SC: Sentence complexity, G: Grammar

There were three native English speaker raters who have taught English for over 5 years in ESL and EFL contexts and their inter-rater reliability was 0.850 as shown in Table 2. In addition, the questionnaire (Appendix 1)


483

was administered four times to examine participants’ attitudes towards using movie clips, Vocaroo, VoiceThread, and TTS for speaking and autonomy development. The questionnaire (Appendix 2) also ascertained participants’ attitudes towards English study period, computer proficiency, and teachers’ and peers’ feedback. In order to analyze their attitudes and speaking data, paired t-tests, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were conducted.

IV. Results and Discussion 1. The Development of Oral Proficiency and Autonomy This research explores the role played by media literacy and technology in developing oral proficiency and autonomy using ICT programs and media for Korean EFL learners. The first finding is that using media technology can help enhance language learners’ autonomy and oral proficiency in terms of discourse so they can express their thoughts based on media interpretation and information. Table 3 presents the positive effects of four digital storytelling tasks on participants’ speaking, focusing on areas such as holistic skills and discourse over 8 weeks. It demonstrates that the participants could produce better stories depending on how they interpret the media they used based on the analysis of paired t-tests. In addition, Table 4 illustrates that participants found significant satisfaction in their overall speaking improvement using Vocaroo and movie clips in the learning process on their individual 4 times responses by paired t-tests. They answered that Vocaroo can aid in improving their speaking with unlimited opportunities to practice speaking through self-assessment and self-correction. Participants also responded that using movie clips is very helpful in increasing their motivation to speak

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SoHee Kim

about the given topic for oral proficiency. They enjoyed the learning process including choosing their own movie clips to tell a story so they could engage their own learning easily so as to boost their speaking motivation. However, many participants had negative attitudes towards using TTS because they thought it did not provide natural-sounding speech. Some participants, on the other hand, preferred to use TTS because they could mimic the sounds and correct faulty pronunciation with repetition. Table 3. Speaking improvement between task 1 and task 4 Speaking skills M Holistic 2.983 Discourse 3.290 Pronunciation 2.774 Vocabulary 2.935 Sentence complexity 2.967 Grammar 2.774

Task 1 SD .527 .686 .458 .474 .571 .458

M 3.161 3.483 2.838 2.951 3.080 2.838

Task 4 SD .549 .565 .450 .335 .489 .412

t

p

2.098 2.051 .942 .256 1.473 .893

.040* .045* .350 .799 .146 .375

Note. * p< .05.

Table 4. Speaking improvement, using ICT programs, and movie clips Attitudes Speaking improvement satisfaction Using Vocaroo Using VoiceThread Using TTS Using movie clips

1 2.83

Mean 2 3 3.13 3.47

4 3.63

-4.566

.000**

3.01 3.34 3.26 3.06

3.27 3.26 3.22 3.31

3.75 3.20 3.04 3.49

-5.382 1.333 1.197 -2.987

.000** .187 .236 .004**

3.63 3.28 3.04 3.39

t

p

Note. **p< .01.

This finding shows that learners’ strategic use of ICT programs and media to accommodate their own learning has a role in contributing to development of learners’ autonomy. Since participants had the freedom to select their preferred movie clips related to topics and access ICT programs,


485

using VoiceThread and Vocaroo in and out of class, they could facilitate effective communication as critical thinkers to develop oral proficiency and autonomy. Considering autonomy is strongly linked with metacognitive awareness, it also enhances learners’ ability to access adequate resources, as well as to assess their own development through self-reflection (Sinclair, 1999; Reinders & Lázaro, 2007) using media technology. Interestingly, Table 5 indicates although no significant relationship exists between computer proficiency and speaking as well as autonomy development based on correlation analysis, the use of ICT programs provided positive effects on speaking improvement and learners’ autonomy development. Table 5. Computer skills, autonomy, speaking improvement, and using ICT Attitudes Computer skills Autonomy Speaking improvement Using ITC programs

R p r p r R p

Computer skills 1 .081 .537 .069 600 .003 .982

Autonomy .081 .537 1 .221 .090 .545(**) .000

Speaking improvement .069 600 .221 .090 1 .323(*) .012

Using ITC programs .003 .982 .545(**) .000 .323(*) .012 1

Note. **p< .01

2. The Importance of Computer Skills Another finding of this research may suggest computer proficiency plays an indispensable role in media literacy in engaging learners’ participation in the learning process. Kellner and Share (2005) pointed out that computer competency and the ability to use multimedia technologies are skills needed to develop media literacy. Like previous studies, this one also confirms that computer proficiency can be a significant factor for developing oral production. Computer use has a very high potential in assisting human

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SoHee Kim

cognition (Groß & Wolff, 2001). It is noteworthy that Table 6 reflects this view and illustrates that although the combination of computer proficiency and VoiceThread resulted in a significant correlation, there is no relationship between computer proficiency and the use of Vocaroo or TTS based on correlation analysis. It indicates that participants seemed to consider that VoiceThread requires a certain level of computer proficiency skills, uploading a movie clip or recording with media tools. Table 6. Computer skills, using ICT programs, and speaking improvement Attitudes Computer skills TTS Voice-Thread Vocaroo Speaking improvement

r p r p r p r p r p

Computer TTS skills 1 .234 .067 .234 1 .067 .272(*) .044 .032* .736 .056 .373(**) .666 .003 .159 .172 .221 .198

Voice -Thread .272(*) .032* .044 .736 1 .149 .251 .090 .492

Vocaroo .056 .666 .373(**) .003 .149 .251 1 .444(**) .000

Speaking improvement .159 .221 .172 .198 .090 .492 .444(**) .000 1

Note. **p< .01; *p< .05.

The participants’ attitudes about VoiceThread derived from technical problems, such as difficulties in accessing and uploading media files and making recordings, but Vocaroo and TTS were easier to use to practice their speaking since VoiceThread has no function to upload media files. Since participants utilized VoiceThread outside the classroom by themselves, some participants faced difficulty in accessing the program to create digital storytelling due to their lack of computer proficiency. However, importantly participants replied that they engaged less in the creation of storytelling when using Vocaroo because they focused mainly on the recording process rather than interpreting a move clip and creating stories. Many previous


487

studies concluded that production is essential for media literacy because it provides learners with insight into the constructed nature of media, allowing them to be more effective media analysts (Buckingham, 2007; Burn, 2009; Thomas & Tufano, 2010). Thus, Johnson (2009) underscored that technology can be an essential part for communicative competence in higher education that requires cognitive processes and critical thinking. When language learners lack sufficient knowledge to use computers, however, it is difficult for them to derive positive learning effects due to the impediments this represents. In the same vein, when language learners interact with media and technology synchronously without any difficulty, they can engage in more effective learning since it helps learners’ cognitive development for meaningful learning based on media information and interpretation. Additionally, there were significant relationships between using Vocaroo and speaking improvement satisfaction as well as using Vocaroo and TTS together. These results may offer effective ways of using online programs in order to maximize learning for speaking improvement. Table 7. Important factors for speaking improvement satisfaction Model

(Constant) Using movie clips Using TTS Using VoiceThread Using Vocaroo Computer proficiency Feedback from peers Feedback from the instructor

Unstandardized coefficients B SE .295 .920 .147 .118 -.135 .086 .149 .121 .014 .133 .201 .085 -.093 .084 .392

.132

Standardized coefficients Beta

t

Sig.

.154 -.182 .131 .015 .252 -.131

.320 1.251 -1.567 1.228 .109 2.349 -1.109

.750 .217 .123 .225 .914 .023* .273

.356

2.976

.004**

Note. **p