NETLANGUAGES – LOWER INTERMEDIATE
Sample – ‘House & Home.’
<The sample pages for the Lower Intermediate General English Course are taken from a unit called ‘House and Home’. The unit looks at accommodation, places to live, etc. On this page you can see the contents of this unit and try a small sample of the material taken from the following sections- Reading, Vocabulary, Grammar & Listening>
Introduction
As a relatively new way to deliver English Language teaching, little research into what constitutes a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ on-line course exists although as Dudeney (May 2004) points out: ‘from the pedagogical point of view, the value of a good online teaching program has been represented by the acronym DISC, which stands for: dialogue (which includes the notion of interaction – obviously crucial in online language learning, given the central role that interaction plays in language acquisition) – involvement, support, and control. These key issues can be phrased in the form of questions that the potential leaner needs to ask when choosing between options.’
In this assignment I will evaluate Netlanguages following the criteria laid out in the questionnaire but I will use the DISC evaluation in summation as I feel it is a more exact evaluation tool for on-line courses.
1. Communicative Skills
Reading – 2
The reading is in four parts. The subject of Feng Shui is introduced with a short three paragraph text. There are hyperlinks on selected words to the dictionary. The general point about the subject matter of the reading is that it is up-to-date and has a modern ‘feel.’
More authentic material is readily available for on-line courses and unlike a book it can be updated on a weekly basis if needs be. On-line course writers and teachers do not need to wait for two weeks or more for the latest foreign language newspaper or magazine – today’s issue is online now. The learners using Netlanguages are looking at the same texts online as native speakers are reading online.
After the first short paragraph there are two global meaning comprehension questions followed by four short paragraphs and a ‘choose the title’ exercise. The last exercise has a visual component in that it combines text and picture matching.
The learner has immediate feedback when doing the exercise with a pop-up box which simply says ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect.’ If the learner is incorrect they are advised to ‘have another go!’
There is not a lot of text to be read by the learner. This may be because it is designed for low-intermediate level but also it is felt that people do not like to spend long periods reading text from a screen as it can cause eye strain. Although the hyperlinks to the dictionary gives another opportunity to read perhaps there should and could be links to further reading materials on Feng Shui for fast finishers. Instead of a simple ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect’ the answers could include links to further reading on the subject. I say this for these reasons:
Reading is best enhanced by reading, and the more, the better. Students who use the web to find information often use scanning skills, as well as extended reading. If you do not find what you are looking for you click on a link and see where it takes you. This is the way most people use the web in their own language so it seems a missed opportunity to not include links in a reading text. Although it must be said that the main menu includes a web search (button 11) ‘Find more information about Feng Shui and famous homes…’ which I am unfortunately not able to check out as it is not included in the sample lesson.
Listening – 3
There are three listening exercises. The first exercise involves three speakers who describe a room and the learner has to match the speaker to the name of the room. The listening is for general meaning. The feedback is limited yet again to ‘Congratulations!’ or ‘Try again.’
The second exercise is a listening exercise for more specific meaning. The feedback is again quite limited.
In the last exercise learners have to listen for adjectives and make a note of them. Finally the learner can click on a hyperlink to bring up a transcript to check their answers.
I would categorize the listening section as only average mainly because it repeats the format and approach of the other sections.
Writing (Not possible to give evaluation)
We are not able to comment directly on the writing exercises as we are not allowed access to them in the sample lessons. However writing is included in four sections:
8 – Tell your tutor about where you live…
12 – Write a letter giving information about how to organise an office…
13 – Send your work to your tutor and get feedback…
15 – Send us your feedback on this unit…
Obviously, writing is directly covered in section 12 when the learners are asked to write a letter about how to organize an office. It is a pity that we cannot directly comment on the section so I will limit myself to some general comments about writing practice in online courses.
Students tend to write more and revise more when they word-process their texts, and they take more pride in the finished product. Writing, using a PC is more authentic and ‘real world’ nowadays, much more so than writing with pen and paper in a classroom. Writing online and using a PC is taken more seriously as it mirrors the way most people write in their everyday lives.
One of the most-researched areas in this field is the use of computers to enhance writing skills. Word-processors have been seen as tools that promote writing skills in various ways. Process writing in particular has been helped by the use of information technology (Boone, 1991). For example, brainstorming is more visible with different types of concept mapping (Mikulecky, et al., 1989); revising on the word-processor is more likely to occur than rewriting on paper and peer critiquing occurs more readily in many cases when the discussion is online rather than face-to-face (Herrmann, 1989; Marx, 1990). Just using a word-processor or online discussion is not enough to create permanent beneficial effects on writing, however.
An exploratory study by Krause (1995) with native speakers using online discussion suggests that online discussion may be valuable as a teaching tool, but just using online discussion does not necessarily spill over to affect offline writing. Clearly, the tasks set by the teacher and instructions given on use of computer tools are essential to long-term benefits in writing skills. I would assume that the online tutor guiding learners using Netlanguages would be aware of these points.
Speaking 4 (No speaking practice on Netlanguages )
I cannot find any speaking practice in Low Intermediate apart from pronunciation practice which I will comment on later. This is an obvious gap in Netlanguages. We live in a face to face (f2f) world. Technology exists and is used everyday to enable synchronous or live f2f interaction via the net. Online courses should use this technology to allow learners to talk to each other and their tutors.
It seems to be an omission as well that Netlanguages does not use some of the excellent already existing software which enables learners to practice speaking online.
In general a link to the Internet can provide a source of authentic, up-to-the-minute information in the target language with opportunities for real communication with native speakers. The speaking component of Netlanguages falls short of utilizing what is possible and giving learners speaking practice.
2. Linguistic Component
Grammar – 2
The first exercise is on prepositions of place using pictures. The learners have to match the prepositions to the pictures. The feedback is limited to ‘There are 9 correct matches. Try one more time.’
Exercise 2 is a click and drag activity where the learner has to use prepositions in context in a text on Feng Shui.
In the final activity learners can listen to how the prepositions are corrected.
I think the exercise is fine as far as it goes but is perhaps a shade limited in that there is little pre-teaching of the grammar. The drawback with these types of exercises is that the learner could in theory get the correct answers through trial and error in that if you do the exercises enough times you will get 100% on the basis of elimination.
The way the grammar is taught in the sample lacks a constructivist and cognitive element which I feel is more appropriate when teaching grammar.
Pronunciation (Not possible to give evaluation)
In section 10 there is a specific pronunciation activity ‘Minimal pair questions – identifying differences between pairs of questions…’ Unfortunately we are not able to access this section in the sample so it is not possible to evaluate how pronunciation is tackled on Netlanguages.
However pronunciation is covered in the grammar and vocabulary sections. It is limited to listening to how the words are pronounced. There is software available which can record a learner speaking and play back the speech. This can be compared to a model pronunciation. If Netlanguages does not use this technology it would be another gap in the design of the course which should be addressed.
Vocabulary – 3
There are three parts to the vocabulary section. Exercise 1 is a text entitled ‘A Room of my own’ where selected vocabulary items are hyperlinked to the dictionary. In exercise 2 the learner has to use the text as a guide to fill in a vocabulary list using a drawing on which objects are numbered. An interesting drawback in this kind of activity is that the technology does not always reflect the flexible nature of language. In exercise 2 question 1 the answer is ‘coffee table.’ Yet it would be perfectly acceptable to call the object simply ‘table.’ However the system rejects the answer ‘table’ as incorrect and tells the learner to try again.
There is a tendency to present vocabulary in black and white terms on online courses when the reality of living language is grey. For that reason I would only give the vocabulary section on Netlanguages an average score.
It is informative to compare the Netlanguages approach to teaching vocabulary to some very interesting research done on vocabulary development . As most reading teachers know, having an adequate vocabulary is critical to reading success. While students can do some guessing from context, they still need to be able to understand the bulk of what they are reading in order to make sense of the rest. Various studies in cognitive science have pointed to the usefulness of multiple modes of input, such as aural and graphical as well as textual data, for enhancing recognition and recall. This is cited as one of the strengths of multimedia (Liaw, 2001).
The main factor influencing vocabulary learning, however, as well as reading skill development in general, is exposure. Vocabulary is learned best through repeated exposure to words in context, as part of reading. Concordancing is one approach to giving students more exposure to a word in a variety of contexts. A concordance scans a very large text base (usually made up of hundreds of documents or more) and pulls out all the occurrences of a target word, along with some of the context. Most concordance displays have the search term in the middle, then five to ten words of the context on either side. With a large text base, almost any word will have several occurrences, and the learner can see them all together. Cobb (1997) explains the benefits of vocabulary learning with a computer tutor based on a concordancer:
“It is indeed a tough paradox that you need words to learn words, but it can be softened by three factors. First, … with several contexts accessible, a learner is likely to find one where he knows enough ambient words to make a useful inference. Second, a finer-grained picture of exactly how many words are needed to make inferences is becoming available through corpus analysis…. Third, a corpus tutor can be designed to contain elements of both direct instruction and dictionary work in the initial bootstrapping phase.”
I feel the Netlanguages online course approach to teaching vocabulary could benefit from Cobb’s advice.
3. Methodology
Method – 3
I would like to make some general points about methodology used in on-line courses before analyzing Netlanguages. An online course does not constitute a method in of itself, rather it is a means of delivering English teaching using whatever method(s) the course designers favour.
However the way E-Learning in general and online courses in particular are structured opens up the possibility of multiple methods and approaches being packaged together. An eclectic approach in practice rather than purely in words.
For example the relationship between teacher/tutor and learner is completely different on an online course to the normal relationship we have in the traditional classroom. For those teachers who are accustomed to being the sole source of information and authority, this can be a very large change. It is hard to avoid as more students have access to computers and the Internet at home, they can get information and ask questions independently. It is no effort for a student to pose a grammar or vocabulary question at Dave’s ESL Cafe or other similar sites to get an answer from another teacher. If you’re wrong, the students can find out. I feel that this exciting aspect of online learning is missing from the Netlanguages approach. The learners do not seem to be encouraged to go out into the digital world to search for answers and meanings themselves. I did not see many hyperlinks in the sample I studied to the super information highway.
Experiential learning can be easier with electronic media because large amounts of data are available and students can easily build and revise electronically. I do not think Netlanguages really takes advantage of this possibility.
Research in cognitive psychology has supported the concept that people use past knowledge and experience to help provide a structure for new ideas, and that people interpret new information based on their previous knowledge and experience. In other words, we create meaning for ourselves; we do not incorporate it wholesale from others. Unfortunately is that not the mistaken method of Netlanguages with their ‘correct’ ‘incorrect’ pop-ups? It is indeed unfortunate because the technology available for online courses gives us the opportunity to include more than one method.
Language learners should be active participants in learning, not just empty vessels to be filled with the teacher’s knowledge. Piaget’s contemporary, Lev Vygotsky, also believed that students were not just passive recipients of knowledge. They learned best in their “zone of proximal development” – where they can, with guidance, learn more than they would on their own. I cannot really comment on the tutor’s role in Netlanguages because we do not see their role in the sample but in the sections I have commented on the learner does seem to be left on their own until they come up with ‘correct’ answers.
Netlanguages could do a lot more to create opportunities for experiential learning. Students should be gathering and analyzing data and demonstrating their knowledge in a tangible way.
I believe that constructivist learning is easier to design and set up electronically than using other media. For instance tools for constructing meaning can be included on online courses: In the constructivist approach to language learning, students should be able to create their own meaning by producing newsletters, web pages, and multimedia presentations. In the samples I have seen I feel Netlanguages has missed an opportunity to achieve this. It might be said that this could be a big drawback in Netlanguages if the same ‘correct – incorrect’ approach is used in the higher levels.
On the positive side Netlanguages offers immediate feedback. Students do not have to hunt for an answer key at the back of a book or wait for the teacher to return an exercise to know if they understood the material. This brings an immediacy to the learning which suits some learners’ individual styles.
There also exists the possibility on Netlanguages for limitless repetition. This should not be underestimated as a strategy especially at lower levels. Computers and online courses are superb at handling repetitive tasks. They can present the same material again and again at times when their human instructors are not available. Repetition plays an important role in reinforcing learning. In this respect Netlanguages method works well in that the learner can tailor the course to their own needs. If they need a slower pace and constant repetition they can have it. There is no teacher to hurry them along. They choose when they feel they have learnt something and it is time to move on.
On a general point computers and online courses can also be said to provide a “Neutral” medium. Netlanguages’ performance via the computer is consistent. It never loses patience with students, never gets angry, and never plays favourites. Language learners continually create mental hypotheses about how the target language works. The computer can provide a safe environment in which to test linguistic hypotheses.
Without complete access to Netlanguages it is difficult to make definite judgments about the method used (particularly as regards the role of the tutor) but it seems to me that the course is based on the International House eclectic approach to methodology. However, I must say that the samples I have evaluated smack of a Presentation, Practice and Production approach to teaching which is prevalent on the CELTA courses which are closely linked to International House. I did not see much evidence of a task based approach, cognitive activities or communicative exercises in the samples. This may be an unfair criticism because I have only seen a snapshot of the course and a lower level aswell.
Motivation – 3
As I have already mentioned multiple learning styles can be supported more easily in online courses. Often, similar material is available in text, graphical, audio, and video format. All of these can be accessed in one place, via the computer, rather than having to bring in books, tapes, and VCRs
Students can be more motivated doing online courses. It feels different; it appeals to the MTV generation; all of the positive aspects of technology create more motivation for students. These points are all valid but the question is: does Netlanguages take advantage of these advantages? I think in this respect Netlanguages is only an average online course. It has the feel of only going so far in tapping the potential of the internet.
The internet is a technology that is constantly developing and changing. Netlanguages could be quickly left behind. It is true that the shift to the computer lab has provided a change of pace, and some students may work more eagerly on a computer than in other settings. However, I believe that the “motivation” factor may have been more significant in the past when computers were a novelty. For example Hollywood will always be ahead of education in terms of its ability to produce sophisticated multimedia, and today’s students may not be impressed with the relatively low level of sophistication of most online courses.
It is not enough to impress today’s learners just to put The Headway series on the Internet. I am not saying that Netlanguages is just ‘Headway online’ but it could be much much better than it is.
To justify the expense and effort involved in using computers and online courses, I think we need to look for more compelling reasons than any motivation that is provided by the medium itself.
Having said that I think there are two areas which Netlanguages has worked on very well and which greatly aids motivation – individualization and control of input.
There is a tremendous opportunity for individualization of learning inherent within online courses which is taken advantage of by Netlanguages. Students can work at their own pace. Those who learn more slowly can use CALL materials for remediation while others can use them to accelerate learning.
Control over language input: In Netlanguages the target language is presented in manageable segments. The language remains natural and at normal speed since digital audio and video clips can easily be played as often as necessary. Text is associated with each segment and displayed or hidden according to the needs of the learner. This aspect works very well in Netlanguages.
Interaction -4
It is interesting that the slogan of Netlanguages is: ‘e-languages with a human touch.’ This is obviously a reaction to the negative feelings many learners and indeed teachers have about online learning due to the approach of companies such as Opening, Wall Street and Blah Blah & Co (amongst others) which gave CALL an undeserved bad name. The slogan gives the impression that online courses are not cold and unfriendly and that there is interaction and not just with your computer! The question of questions in this assignment is: what is the reality?
In this section I will assume that we understand ‘interaction’ to mean interaction with a tutor and other learners as I have already described the interaction the learner has with the computer. I will however make one point about the interaction I noticed on the samples I evaluated.
Immediate feedback: The almost instantaneous feedback on Netlanguages can save learners hours of misguided work. Even the most unintelligent “no, you’re wrong” (seen in Netlanguages) type of feedback can alert students that they are on the wrong track. This can be considered positive interaction.
There are five possibilities to interact on the sample:
7 -Post messages about Feng Shui and your house, and find out about other students’ houses…
9 – Tell your tutor about where you live…
11 – Find more information about Feng Shui and famous homes…
13 – Send your work to your tutor and get feedback…
15 – Send us your feedback on this unit…
They range from sending feedback to the tutor, through a web search and chat session. We could say that a third of the section involves interaction of some sort which is laudable. However it seems all the interaction is written.
If ‘7′ (above) is a synchronous chat then that is an excellent opportunity for interaction although it seems most of the interaction is asynchronous and written. This probably reflects the kind of interaction most people indulge in on the internet although synchronous voice chat is widely available with broadband connection and I would have liked to see this included in Netlanguages as well.
Contents – 5
Netlanguages is advertised as a General English course. The sample I have evaluated has the title ‘House & Home’ and the contents cover this theme. The ‘Feng Shui’ reading is topical, trendy and actually quite interesting. The vocabulary connected with rooms and objects found within is vital vocabulary needed by all learners. For these reasons I consider the contents to be excellent.
4. Technical Features
Interface appearance – 5
It should be said that in general opinions about the design of websites are very much a personal matter. Some people like the screen to be filled up with images and hyperlinks while others are looking for lots of type. One point which should be borne in mind is that it is widely accepted it is difficult to look at pages of text for long periods on a PC, as headaches or eyestrain usually are the result. For this reason English language online course designers usually try to keep text to the bare minimum and give the option of printing out longer texts. Incidentally I did not see this option on Netlanguages.
The Netlanguages interface is clean and uniform. The design is minimalist. The red numbered buttons are clearly identifiable as the entry points for the different sections of the course.
It is also important that each activity is contained on one screen with an acceptable amount of scrolling down to get to the last exercise on each screen.
The design is very logical and avoids confusing the learners with too many ‘bells and flashy buttons,’ for example the buttons for activating the listening activities look like the buttons on a tape recorder. What could be simpler?
Navigation – 4
Some of the points mentioned above apply to navigation as well. Netlanguages is an easy site to get around. There is not a lot of scrolling and the various sections are clearly marked.
My only criticism is that the designers have not taken advantage of the possibilities available with software today.
For example there are tremendous advantages of hypertext: On a computer, text can be linked in a non-linear fashion to explanatory text, to sound, to images, and to video. This capability can provide learners with links to extend and enhance their understanding of the new language. By choosing which paths to explore, readers can create their own meaning and organization. Netlanguages uses hypertext to link to the dictionary. I would have liked to see a more imaginative use of hypertext on Netlanguages.
It should be added that an internet novice would need some initial training to do the Netlanguages course. It is designed for people who already know their way around the keyboard and internet a little.
Summary
As I mentioned in my introduction the value of a good online teaching programme has been represented by the acronym DISC. “Online learning: it is all about dialogue, involvement, support and control – according to the research” (Coomey, M, and Stephenson, J)
According to Dudeney (May 2004) the following questions should be asked when evaluating online courses: I will add my opinion as to how I think Netlanguages measures up after each question.
Dialogue. How much opportunity is provided to interact with the tutors, other learners, and proficient users of the language in general? – Netlanguages has ample opportunities to interact with tutors and other learners but I did not see opportunities to interact with proficient users of the language.
What kinds of interaction are available (e.g. synchronous/ asynchronous, written, spoken, etc) and how integral are these to the program – as opposed to being an optional “frill”? – Netlanguages uses mostly written asynchronous interaction. It could increase the options for synchronous spoken interaction.
Using e-mail, bulletin boards, ‘real-time’ chat, asynchronous chat, group discussions and debate, the tutor or moderator structures interactive opportunities into the content of the course? – Netlanguages uses all these options on the course.
Involvement.
How motivating are the materials and tasks? – Netlanguages materials appear to be motivating.
How much constructive feedback will I get on the tasks that I do, and how explicit ? – As I explained above the immediate feedback is very sparse, limited to ‘correct’ and/or ‘try again,’ but this type of feedback does have it’s place.
How much online collaboration with other learners is involved? – In the sample I evaluated a third of the activities involved some sort of collaboration, even if that was only emailing the tutor.
Does the course enshrine a traditional “delivery” view of learning (e.g. is it simply an online reference book) or does it adopt a more constructivist approach, whereby learning is jointly constructed through involvement in meaningful tasks? – Netlanguages clearly enshrines a traditional “delivery” view of learning.
Includes responses in structured tasks, active engagement with material, collaboration and small group activities? - I did not see much evidence of this in the sample.
Support.
Will I be assigned a personal tutor for the length of the course? – I assume this is the case with Netlanguages as sessions with a tutor are mentioned in the menu.
How much tutor contact will I get, how regularly, and in what form (e.g. email, phone, net meeting etc)? – I get the impression that the tutors are readily available.
Is the tutor’s role purely managerial, or will it involve pedagogical and pastoral support as well? – They seem to offer pedagogical and pastoral support.
Includes periodic face-to-face contact, online tutorial supervision, peer support, advice from experts, feedback on performance, support services and software tools? – I am not aware that Netlanguages offers these services as it does not appear in the sample or indeed the advertising blurb. This is perhaps the most important feature of successful online courses according to surveys.
Control.
Will I be able to view sample materials before committing myself to the course? – Netlanguages is a lot more liberal than other online course providers in that it allows you to get a fair idea of the course from the sample. I have understood that the site is broken into four areas; a study room, a library, a cafe, and a teacher’s room. The sample has about 16 different activity types. However it is difficult to gauge the amount of support which is available.
How much control will I have over the pace and timing of the course? – This is unclear as well.
How much say will I have in the choice of topics and texts, and the sequencing of tasks? – It does not seem that there is a lot of choice available to the learner. They seem to presented with the course ‘as it is’ but it does do ‘what is says on the bottle!’
How much support will be provided in terms of training me to be an autonomous and resourceful online learner? – This does not come across clearly from the sample.
Finally, although I have been critical of some aspects of Netlanguages it is in my opinion the best example of an all-around English language course based on Web technology. Areas which need improvement such as ‘Involvement ‘and ‘Control’ will undoubtedly be addressed in the coming years.
