The German Internet Project
Lixl-Purcell's Home Page
U of North Carolina at Greensboro
This network presentation focuses on Foreign
Language Acquisition and Technology.
It outlines various aspects of integrating new technologies into current
teching methodologies, and elaborates on selected
techniques to present the digital media in the classroom. The presented
examples involve computer links to home pages on the web, title
pages of foreign language e-mail groups, listserv addresses, and
instructors' resources. The presentation ends with an Internet Hand Out
of a sample exercise involving German Studies activities on the network.
Further teaching suggestions and classroom materials can be found in the
folders of my Internet
Workshop I (Tools for Language Teachers), and Internet
Workshop II (German Studies with Multimedia Tools).
-- May
1995
I. Emergence of New Pedagogical Paradigms in The Digital Era
The advent of digital applications such as CD-ROMs, laserdiscs, multi-media software , and the World Wide Web (www) has provided instructors with a cornucopia of exciting new opportunities to individualize the learning process, and involve students in challenging communicative scenarios. Foremost among these technological tools, and one of the most promising new applications to emerge, is the Internet with its vast resources ranging from the Humanities to Business and Technology. Its almost unlimited educational possibilities include e-mail exchanges, listserv discussion groups, on-line conference forums, and the virtual universe of the world wide web. These new tools provide a fascinating spectrum of interdisciplinary study sites, including up-to-date links to foreign newspapers, popular culture exhibits, and other authentic realia which teachers have long known to foster students' motivations for mastering second languages.
II. Digital Technologies Support The Trends toward Foreign Language Studies across The Curriculum
The use of new technologies in the classroom promotes not only to an immersion into the target culture, but also to a restructuring of teaching techniques and approaches. With the electronic extension of the classroom walls, it becomes evident that the traditional roles of teacher and student are likely to change as well. The foreign language teacher is likely to become more of a motivator, mediator, and designer of tasks rather than the transmitter of information. Instead of lecturing, he or she will be more involved in conducting and directing student activities to foster an environment of expectation, possibility, and performance. As the primary performers in this learning process, students face new roles and responsibilities as well. They are more responsible for what they learn, how they learn, and how they internalize and systemize this knowledge. This responsibility entails the willingness and duty of students to assume more control of their own learning. It requires them to respond more to their own intellectual needs as well as to the interests of their classmates. In short, the integration of multimedia teaching tools allows for multiple approaches, and for the disengagement from methodological dogma and dogmatic methodologies.
The enhancement of language instruction through technology creates less need for what I call the "frontal attack" style of teaching which rests on the delivery of information, and studious note taking by students. Computer-based reference materials assist in this shift away from teacher monologues by providing learners with rapid access to lecture related information. Technology can provide the basis for a more student oriented pedagogy which emphasizes synthetic learning over the linear transfer of knowledge. Meaningful learning requires that information be contextualized and that students discover relationships with other areas of the curriculum. Digital domains such as the world wide web, CD-ROMs and multimedia applications do exactly that. They immerse students in a virtual universe where the study of foreign languages and literatures becomes an interdisciplinary and learner oriented enterprise. The computer, operating in such modes, permits rich possibilities for applied explorations and task oriented training driven by student query instead of teacher directive. This expansion of language and literature studies corresponds to current trends in the humanities which stress critical inquiries across the curriculum.
III. The Foreign Languages Are Situated in The Foreground of This Curricular Shift
The field of foreign language instruction is situated in the foreground of this curricular shift. Language studies are encyclopaedic by nature which make them prime disciplines for combining traditional teaching techniques with multimedia instruction. Our laboratories and learning centers are already the direct beneficiaries of this new technology.
A detailed analysis of the impact of informational media on educational methodology is an elaborate undertaking, as witnessed by the lengthy bibliographies found in the literature on the subject (see References). The brief overview that follows is intended to provide practical guidelines on the use of interactive media for enhancing the teaching and learning of foreign languages. The various educational media and the methods they support are outlined according to their applications in the classroom.
The following samples provide ideas for classroom activities and focus on e-mail and mailing list activities, and on the use of the Internet with its world wide web of teaching resources. It goes without saying that these new digital media are used best when they complement traditional forms of instruction such as lectures, group activities, textual analysis, and taped exercises. Their big advantage, however, lies in the fact that they integrate the learning process by transporting students from the linear mode of learning to the relational and the creative mode. This integration greatly enhances and expands the realm of educational possibilities available to teachers and students alike.
1. E-mail and Listservs: Providing new forums for interactive learning activities:
3. The Internet (www) allows access to vast resources on current affairs, popular culture and up-to-date research involving the target culture.
IV. Teaching with The New Resources: Area Studies on the World Wide Web
A few more points concerning the challenges and rewards which lie ahead on the road to teaching with new technologies:
V. Technology Initiatives Work Best as Collaborative Efforts
The development of computer-based learning activities can not be left to individuals or even departments who act alone. Technology initiatives in the foreign languages or any other field require the association and cooperation of individuals across all levels of the institution. The cyber-buffs, lone rangers, and heat seekers can not do it alone, and cooperation and collaboration are imperative for launching new technology initiatives..
VI. Challenges on The Road toward Multimedia Teaching
Introducing computer technology requires money not only for equipment but also for space, maintenance and security. A computer requires software which is not always budgeted when new machines are purchased. This simple observation is often overlooked by those who budget technology initiatives. As an estimate, my department has purchased CD-ROMs and software for about $1000 per foreign language, which seems to be adequate.
Moreover, few institutions consider developing an Internet study site or a computer application the equivalent of producing a piece of scholarship. Any work in this area needs to be directly tied to your own classroom work to be personally meaningful, and needs to benefit your students before it will be recognized and supported by the administration. And while retooling your teaching styles and techniques to accommodate the multimedia applications, avoid the temptation to re-invent the blackboard through electronic means. And most importantly, find ways to assure the screen shy members of your classes that the new technologies are designed to help them in their quests for knowledge, not to intimidate them. In my own teaching, I have found it most useful to introduce classes as groups to the new hypermedia labs on campus, and to pair the reluctant students with the more computer literate. This partnership arrangement proves not only productive for the mastery of the electronic medium but also provides for a better group dynamic in the classroom. The class begins to function as a team, in which we learn from each other what works and what doesn't.
In this student-teacher partnership and discovery lie the primary rewards for our efforts to appropriate the new technologies. Students enjoy the exploratory nature of the electronic frontier, and most of them are quite eager to tap into the exciting new resources. This awakens their curiosity, challenges their notions of literacy, and offers yet another context for the mastery of foreign languages.
VII. Conclusion
The utilization of the Internet as a virtual connector to foreign cultures, and the expansion of classroom communications into electronic forums create holds many rewards for teachers and students alike. As we cast our communicative nets ever wider, searching for contacts to foreign cultures across the globe, the spectrum of voices from otherwise obscure individuals helps us learn tolerance for differences as well as for similarities. What better place to continue the dialog about new opportunities for foreign language learners, virtual classrooms, and the benefit of instant inter-cultural connections.
References
Sample Exercise. Elementary Level: German Geography on the Internet
Level: Elementary German (first year), up to 35 students
Goal: Students research the Internet to obtain a geographical profile of a city in a German speaking country of their choice. They download the document, write a short German report describing the contents, and bring the document and their report to class for an oral presentation.
Application: Students use Internet browser "Mosaic" or "Netscape" to travel to one of the listed URL addresses on the World Wide Web.
Exercise Description: The Internet provides a wealth of information on almost every topic of inquiry. With browsers like "Mosaic" or "Netscape" students can surf the Internet and its world wide web of resources to reach selected archives in the U.S. and abroad, where they can study documents, texts, and images. There are numerous archives in the German speaking countries which provide information on a wide range of subjects, including language, literature, culture, history, politics, business, sports, popular culture, art, music, geography and many other disciplines. The various sites in the www are accessible through so-called "Uniform Resource Locators" (URLs) which direct the browsers to the selected study sites. Listed below are four URLs which students can use to start this exercise. It usually takes less than 10 and 12 URL jumps in the web to find what one is looking for. It can happen, however, that individual connections may be slow to open due to heavy traffic on the net, in which case students should turn to alternate URL addresses to pursue their inquiries. This exercise is designed to take approximately 35 minutes to complete.
Exercise Instructions: There are three parts to this exercise.
Part I consists of a research assignment on the world wide web: Students go to a computer laboratory on campus, and open the Internet browser "Mosaic" or "Netscape" to enter the web. There they explore the geography of a city of their choice in Austria, Germany or Switzerland. Students are asked to bring an empty disk to download and print their document from the web, or else, send the document via browser e-mail to their own mail boxes for later print out. They begin their search for information by entering one of the following URL/http addresses listed under (1), (2) or (3):
(1) Information on German cities:
(2) Information on Austrian cities:
Questions for Students / Fragen
1. Which city did you visit? Welche Stadt besuchten Sie im Internet?
2. What is the location of this city? Wo liegt die Stadt?
3. How many people live in this city? Wie groß ist die Stadt?
4. What geographical and cultural sights does the document describe? Welche Sehenswürdigkeiten beschreibt das Dokument?
5. What information (geograohical, historical, cultural, social) did you find most/least interesting?Welche Informationen über diese Stadt fanden Sie interessant oder langweilig?
Part III of this exercise involves the preparation of an oral report for class: After printing their www documents, and composing descriptive essays in German, students prepare short oral reports by addressing the same questions as listed above. The setting for these oral reports are group presentation and discussion sessions in class. For the class meeting, students are asked to bring both their www documents and their essays to class as support for their talks. The group presentations should be delivered in German, and should not take longer than two minutes each.
Evaluation: This assignment counts as a regular quiz or homework assignment. Part I (www printout) and II (essay) each counts for one half of the grade. Part III (oral report) is ungraded, and counts for practice only. The Internet advantage: Students have access to an almost unlimited pool of geographical and cultural resource materials which they can explore at their own pace. The availability of multi-lingual instructions and user guides on the net allows even reluctant learners to find their way through the exhibits, and pursue those topics which are closest to their own interests (popular culture, architecture, people, sports, tourist sites, media, etc.). The interdisciplinary scope and open-ended hypertext structure of these city archives is far superior to anything a regular textbook can offer. Students can partake in virtual city tours, look at illustrated brochures, visit virtual meeting places, read newspapers and historical notes, and utilize their language skills to navigate around the net.
Contact: For a list of the most useful Language Studies resources on the world wide web, consult my www Home Page at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, located at this URL address: http://www.uncg.edu/~lixlpurc/german.html. The list is entitled "German Studies Trails on the Internet" and contains many links to language, literature, culture, film, art, music, and education, resources.
The German Internet Project
Lixl-Purcell's Home Page