Software Review:
English in Current Affairs (CD-ROM)
Abstract:
Concentrated on the CD-ROM of English in Current Affairs designed
to help those self-study learners in the Institute of Distance Education
of Beijing Foreign Studies University, this paper tries to present
a general review of its feats and false from the perspective of technology
as well as pedagogy and L2 acquisition so as to arouse attention and
stimulate further exploration.
Key words: CD-ROM, technological features, Second Language
Acquisition
Outline:
Ⅰ General Description of the CD-ROM
1.1 Product at a glance
1.2 General Description
Ⅱ Review From Technological & Theoretical Perspective
2.1 Technological Features
2.2 Activities (a pedagogical perspective)
2.3 Teacher Fit (underlying L2 theories)
2.4 Learner Fit (Autonomous learning strategy)
Ⅲ Summary
Part One: General Description
of the CD-ROM
1.1 Product at a glance
The following chart briefly describes the CD-ROM offered to those
students who are studying by themselves under the instruction of the
Institute of Distance Education of the Foreign Language Studies University.
|
Product Type
|
Interactive Multimedia Program
|
|
Language
|
ESL/EFL
-Level: From Intermediate to Advanced
-Activities: Listening, speaking, reading, writing, translation,
etc
|
|
Media Format
|
CD-ROM
|
|
Computer Platform
|
Windows 95+, (IE 5.0+, Windows Media Player 6.4+)
|
|
Hardware Requirements
|
Pentium 133+ with CD-ROM drive,
Speakers & Headset,
32 MB RAM,
Sound and graphics cards.
8x speed CD-ROM
|
|
Producer
|
Institute of Distance Education of Beijing Foreign Studies
University
|
1.2 General Description
English in Current Affairs is a CD-ROM based on a course designed
for those self-study learners who want to upgrade their English from
intermediate level to advanced level. It is thematically structured
and five-skill integrated on activity/task basis. In order to cater
for the general learners of English, it adopts an "English language
Training Module". As CD-ROMs cannot be updated as quickly as
the news and one of the distinctive features of the media is topical,
the program is designed to focus on those which catch readers' longer
interest. Apart from Unit 1, which gives a brief introduction to mass
media in general, the other seven units embrace such seven issues
of universal interest as: educational problems, environmental concerns
and so on. A variety of activities have been designed to train learners'
comprehensive language ability with a focus on reading.
Part Two: Review From Technological
& Theoretical Perspective
2.1 Technological Features
Technologically, English in Current Affairs incorporates a number
of attributes that strengthen the appeal and usefulness of the software,
despite some unavoidable drawbacks - failing to take full advantage
of the current capabilities of computer technology.
The software displays great efficiency in having a very well organized
and consistent, user-friendly interface. Learners can go to any unit
and then further on to the activities and tasks just by one click
no matter where they are. Working in a very well organized and consistent
environment is presumed to decrease the user's level of confusion
and disorientation, and then will tend to result in a more effective
learning environment. Moreover, the program uses clear visual aids
and pays particular attention to avoiding overuse of color and clutter
in visual presentations. It also has high quality sound especially
the dialogues. As pointed out by Brett (1995), a clear visual presentation
and high quality sound, can be expected to motivate, leave time for
learning and free the mental resources of users so that they can be
devoted to learning tasks. In addition, a transcription is always
available if users want to read what they are listening to.
Despite its many technological strengths, the software does have
some technical shortcomings.
Firstly, the software does not have a store function and so fails
to allow users to start where they left off in a previous session.
Secondly, the program fails to use well-established computer technology
to facilitate reading or enhance textual presentations. Lastly, the
recordings of the teacher's instructions could be improved. It seems
that the foreign teacher who read the material has no emotion at all.
This is not the case in actual teaching. There should be some stresses,
variation of tunes and so on.
2.2 Activities (a pedagogical
perspective)
Various kinds of activities have been involved in the program. Pedagogically,
active engagement is largely exploited in English in Current Affairs.
Two features make the incorporation of a wide variety of activities
more interesting:
◆Clear instructions on how to do the exercises;
◆Different types of on-line comprehension questions combined with
different levels of
difficulty.
Besides, the program is very well designed in the specification
of its pedagogical goals. For instance, the software always informs
learners beforehand of the objectives of each activity.
However, lacking appropriate response feedback is a big failure
for this program since varying types of feedback can do great help
in keeping students informed about their performance. We cannot find
the functions of offering right as well as wrong responses. Learners
are provided with verbal feedback delivered by an imitated human voice.
For instance, when correct, they hear, "That's correct",
or "Excellent, you're right", and are read the same line
that has the right answer to reinforce the correct response. When
their responses are not correct, they hear statements like, "No,
that's not the best choice, try one more time" and so on.
2.3 Teacher Fit (Underlying L2 theories)
A close examination of the instructional material of English in
Current Affair leads one to assume that these are based on elements
of second language acquisition (SLA) theories, including: (a) Krashen's
Input Hypothesis; (b) Task-based Learning theory.
The Input Hypothesis is Krashen's attempt to explain how the learner
acquires a second language. According to this hypothesis, the learner
improves and progresses along the 'natural order' when he/she receives
second language 'input' that is one step beyond his/her current level
of linguistic competence. English in Current Affairs incorporates
components of the Input hypothesis, proposing that learners acquire
language by receiving comprehensible input that is interesting and
a little beyond the learner's current level of competence. The software
places learners in an environment where they encounter task input
of a wide variety. All those tasks are well designed and organized
according to their difficulty level and are in accordance with the
Second Language Acquisition theory so as to facilitate the learners
to have a good mastery of the intended knowledge and reach the intended
language proficiency step by step. Many experts contend that unsimplified
input provides learners with opportunities to negotiate for meaning,
and as a result, develop their language ability.
The theoretical bases and pedagogical arguments for task-based learning
appear very strong. According to Breen the task-based syllabus "....
approaches communicative knowledge as a unified system wherein any
use of the new language requires the learner to continually match
choices from his or her linguistic repertoire to the social requirements
and expectations governing communicative behavior and to meanings
and ideas he wishes to share.". Willis suggests, "The most
dynamic element in the process is the learner's creativity. By exploiting
rather than stifling that creativity, we make learning vastly more
efficient." English in Current Affairs pays great attention to
the good arrangement of the tasks, for instance, each unit involves
about six activities and each activity incorporates several tasks,
the CD-ROM directs learners to complete one task after another and
then a further more challenging task. Learners are encouraged and
reinforced and then challenged, then again encouraged and challenged.
With this process going on and on, the learners will surely be attracted
and their language ability improved.
2.4 Learner Fit (Autonomous learning
strategy)
As with all self-study resources, the responsibility for many of
the learning decisions during the use of CD-ROMs is passed over to
the learner. The decisions about what to study, when to study, how
to study, how long to study for are all passed over to the person
who is supposed to control them, the learners. Naiman et al (1977)
report that most successful language learners assumed responsibility
for their own learning. CD-ROM with its wealth of material in different
media and its in built feedback makes it suitable for autonomous learning.
Users of English in Current Affairs have full control over access
to all instructional materials. They can choose the lesson they want
to study and do whichever tasks they choose within that lesson. They
are not constrained by time limits while studying a unit and doing
the activities. the CD-ROM includes hyperlinks of each unit and consistent,
universal navigation symbols that facilitate moving through the software.
The navigation is entirely student-initiated, giving users control
over the pace of their learning. Learners can go to any unit and then
further to the activities and tasks by one click no matter where they
are. In addition, uses can click to pause, repeat lines, or turn on
the transcription at the bottom of the screen any time.
However, as has been mentioned earlier, English in Current Affairs
doesn't have a convenient tracking device that record a learner's
interactions with the activities. Students cannot obtain a record
of which activities have been done, how much time was spent working
on them, and lists the user's score for individual and cumulative
sessions.
Part Three: Summary
As one of a series of CD-ROMs
designed to help those distance learners of beiwiaonline who want
to upgrade their English from intermediate to advanced levels, English
in Current Affairs successfully integrates the L2 learning theory
and teaching methodology with the modern technology to help the users
to develop their comprehensive skills in the target language. As indicated
previously, despite the claims of some of the inefficiencies it might
have and some rooms for improvement, English in Current Affairs
is a good software worthy of consultation by individuals as well as
institutional users.
Bibliography
English in Current Affairs
(CD-ROM & textbook)
Brett, P. A., 1995. Making a CD-ROM. CALL Review March 3-5
Krashen, S., 1985. The Input Hypothesis, London; Longman.
Willis, J., 1996. A framework for task-based learning. AddisonWesley
Longman.
Naiman, Neil, et al., 1995. The Good Language Learner. Clevedon: Multilingual
Matters
