Transcript Told Like It Is! An Evaluation of an Integrated Oral

Told Like It Is!
An Evaluation of an Integrated
Oral Development Pilot Project
David Barr, Jonathan Leakey, and
Alexandre Ranchoux (2005)
Presented by A-Fabulous!
Background
 CALL (computer-assisted language learning)
 Most CALL-based learning has focused on
non-oral activities
 “Technology and oral language development
have been rare bedfellows and for one obvious
reason: The technology for oral development
has posed the greatest challenge to both
hardware and software developers” (p. 2).
 TOLD (Technology and Oral Language
Development) Project
 At the University of Ulster
 Focused on communication with technology
Research Questions
 Does computer technology significantly
help students in oral language
development?
 What factors may affect this?
 What are staff and student reactions for
using technology for oral language
development?
Their Hypothesis
 “A CALL environment makes NO
difference to learning gains in oral
language development” (p. 4).
Their Methods
 One hour per week over a semester
 Four conversation groups of 5-11 students
 Two groups are the treatment group
 Used Tell Me More hardware
 Taught in a multimedia classroom
 Two groups are the comparison group
 Taught in a traditional way
 Data was collected through:
 Questionnaires, surveys, journals and pre- and
posttests
Findings
 Both groups made progress in oral
communication
 The Non-Tech group made more progress
 Pre-Tests were lower though, and they have the
same post-test score…
 They reject their hypothesis, however
“because the comparison group also made
significant progress the improvements
cannot be attributed to technology” (p. 12).
Findings that were surprising
or not…
 Most results favored the comparison group
:O
 Fluency and content improved more in the
comparison group :\
 Meaningful communication
 The treatment group did not improve more in
grammar :O
 Both groups improved in personal questions,
pronunciation, and accent :\
Students’ Thoughts on the
Use of Technology
 One thought that the headphones were
difficult to use BUT another thought that they
were helpful
 Only one student mentioned problems with
technology affecting learning
 Some students found the technology to be
motivating
 7 out of 15 students described the group
discussion and the debates as the best part
of class
Tutors’ Thoughts on the Use
of Technology
 It did not always fit the goals of the
class
 It created a barrier
 They had more reservations about the
use of technology
Conclusions
 Cannot say definitively that technology
hindered performance
 Need a larger sample (and not always an
inexperienced one)
 Need a longer term study
 This study does not account for the lost
instruction time on explaining how to use the
technology
 Need a new hypothesis
 The CALL environment improves certain aspects
of oral language development
 The CALL environment hinders certain aspects
of oral language development
Appendix C: Benefits of each
model
 Monitoring
 Pronunciation
 Responding spontaneously in a
conversation
 Responding to visual or aural input
 Taking an active part in a group
discussion
 Giving a presentation
Autumn’s thoughts…
 Initially disappointed by the article…
 Thought it was going to be about chatting and
how writing skills do transfer to speaking skills
 While the non-tech group improved more, it
started at a lower level…
 What about a ‘both’ group?
 What about incorporating more meaningful
online communication (they do suggest this
for future studies)
 Underestimates the motivational factor