LINGUIST List 21.4908 Mon Dec 06 2010 Review: Applied Linguistics: Meskill & Anthony (2010) Editor for this issue: Joseph Salmons <jsalmonslinguistlist.org> This LINGUIST List issue is a review of a book published by one of our supporting publishers, commissioned by our book review editorial staff. We welcome discussion of this book review on the list, and particularly invite the author(s) or editor(s) of this book to join in. If you are interested in reviewing a book for LINGUIST, look for the most recent posting with the subject "Reviews: AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW", and follow the instructions at the top of the message. You can also contact the book review staff directly. Directory         1.     Zoe Handley , Teaching Languages Online Message 1: Teaching Languages Online Date: 06-Dec-2010 From: Zoe Handley <zoe.handleyeducation.ox.ac.uk> Subject: Teaching Languages Online E-mail this message to a friend Discuss this message Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/21/21-2306.html AUTHORS: Meskill, Carla; Anthony, Natasha TITLE: Teaching Languages Online SERIES TITLE: MM Textbooks PUBLISHER: Multilingual Matters YEAR: 2010 Zöe Handley, Department of Education, University of Oxford, UK SUMMARY In 'Teaching Languages Online', Carla Meskill and Natasha Anthony provide a guide to the effective use of online environments in language learning for language teachers. Coming primarily from the perspective of distance learning, the book is also aimed at teachers working in traditional face-to-face (f2f) classrooms. While the authors make frequent reference to a wide range of on-line resources including various web-sites and tools, the book's primary focus is on Computer-Mediated-Communication (CMC), that is, software that 'allows learners to exchange language -- through text or audio' (Blake, 2008: 152). This is reflected in the organisation of the book, with one chapter dedicated to each of the four main classes of CMC, namely synchronous oral, asynchronous oral, synchronous written, and asynchronous written. To clarify, voice chat is the most popular type of synchronous oral CMC. Synchronous voice chat allows learners to engage in real-time conversations with native speakers, instructors or other learners. Wimba Voice Boards are the best known example of asynchronous oral CMC used in language learning. Similar to a blog or a discussion forum, Wimba Voice Boards allow users to record oral posts and responses to previous posts. Instant messaging and text-based chat allow learners to engage in real-time text-based interaction, i.e. synchronous written interaction, with native speakers, etc, and e-mail is the most popular example of asynchronous written CMC. These four main chapters are preceded by an introduction to the four classes of CMC and their main features which is accompanied by a discussion of pedagogical approaches which might be adopted in these environments. Two further chapters address the affordances, or added value, of the integration of text and visuals in oral CMC and audio and visuals in written CMC, respectively. The book concludes with a chapter summarising the affordances of online environments for teaching the different areas of linguistic knowledge and skills. In this chapter, the authors also provide suggestions on how teachers might exploit online tools and resources to develop their own language curriculum. Further details of each of the chapters are provided below. In Chapter 1, 'Teaching languages well online: the essentials', the authors open with a discussion of the practicalities of teaching languages online. Both advantages and disadvantages are considered under the following themes: (1) time available, (2) instructional time, (3) task design, (4) management, (5) content sequencing, and (6) assessment. The four classes of CMC, namely synchronous oral, asynchronous oral, synchronous written, and asynchronous written are then introduced with a discussion of their main features. Next, theories of and approaches to teaching relevant to online language teaching through CMC are discussed. Specifically, it is proposed that CMC is well-suited to implementing a sociocultural approach to language teaching. In particular, CMC provides a much-needed opportunity for distance learners to develop a community of practice in which they can engage in authentic language use. With respect to pedagogy, two approaches observed in traditional f2f classrooms are compared, namely Initiation-Response-Evaluation (IRE) sequences (Sinclair and Coulthard, 1975) and instructional conversations (Tharp, 1993). The authors then go on to refine Tharp's general model of instructional conversation for the specific purposes of language teaching. The authors' model of instructional conversation for language teaching, which provides the structure for the chapters focusing on the different types of CMC, comprises the following instructional moves: (1) calling attention to forms, (2) calling attention to lexis, (3) corralling, or redirecting the students' attention to the task and appropriate language, (4) saturating, i.e. repetition and reinforcement, (5) using linguistic traps, i.e. forcing learners to use the target language forms, (6) modelling, (7) providing explicit feedback, and (8) providing implicit feedback. The authors conclude the chapter with a number of activities to help the reader explore the unique features of online communication and design their own language learning activities. Chapter 2, 'Language learning and teaching in oral synchronous online environments', focuses on environments such as voice chat which allow learners to engage in real-time conversations with native speakers, tutors and other learners in real-time. The discussion centres on audio-graphic conferencing applications, that is, applications which, in addition to CMC, integrate a shared workspace in which task materials can be displayed and manipulated. In the introduction to the chapter, the authors highlight the similarities with f2f communication and the affordances, or added value, that such environments can bring to language learning, such as archiving and easy orchestration of activities. The authors then go on to illustrate the different ways in which teachers can perform the instructional moves presented in the first chapter using screenshots of applications and activities and extracts of student-teacher interactions. While the authors also demonstrate how teachers can use strategies from traditional f2f classrooms, the focus is on the ways in which the visual modality and online resources, including online dictionaries and grammars and other websites, can be exploited to enhance instruction. The authors conclude the chapter with a number of activities to help the reader explore the features of this specific class of CMC applications. Chapters 3, 5, 6 focus on oral asynchronous, written synchronous, and written asynchronous environments, respectively, and adopt the same format as Chapter 2. Chapters 4 and 7 focus on the advantages of integrating text and visuals in oral CMC and audio and visuals in written CMC, respectively. The authors observe that using a different modality to the primary mode of communication for the provision of feedback and other information is less intrusive than if it is presented using the primary mode of communication. They highlight that using visuals can save time. For example, it is much quicker to explain a point of vocabulary by providing learners with an image and it is much quicker to provide feedback on grammar by pointing to a chart in the shared work space. Visuals, for example circling items in the shared work space or changing the font of target language forms in written-feedback, are also observed to increase the saliency of feedback. Another observed advantage of CMC is accessibility, that is, the ability to refer back to images displayed in the shared work space and archives of text-based communication. Finally, the authors note that being 'digital natives' (Prensky, 2001), learners appreciate multimodal presentations of instructional materials. In the final chapter, the authors draw the book together with a synthesis of the benefits of online teaching for the teaching of reading, composition, listening, speaking and pronunciation and intonation. In contrast with the rest of the book, here, there is much more of an emphasis on the role of internet resources such as online dictionaries, concordances and other web sites than on CMC. The authors conclude the book with recommendations on how teachers might integrate online teaching into their own language curriculum. Suggestions are given for a range of curriculums: current events-based, literature-based, culture-based, theme-based, grammar-based, specific purposes-based, and functions-based. EVALUATION With numerous example activities, extracts from student-teacher interactions, and practical suggestions for the implementation of online teaching, 'Teaching Languages Online' (Meskill and Anthony, 2010) is a valuable addition to the language teachers' book-shelf. However, the book could be much more user-friendly. Given the organisation of the book, in order to appreciate the affordances of the different modes of CMC, it is necessary to read the book cover to cover. While the distance language teacher for whom online teaching is a must today may be motivated to read the whole volume, teachers working in a traditional classroom situation would appreciate a book which they can 'dip into'. This could be achieved through a more in-depth and systematic comparison of the features which distinguish the different modes of CMC, as provided in Levy and Stockwell (2006) and the provision of a comprehensive list of the different software applications that fall into the different classes of CMC -- currently, which software applications fall into which class of CMC only becomes clear in the individual chapters. Such a systematic comparison would allow teachers to identify the appropriate mode of CMC for their instructional goals and their pedagogical approach (see Hubbard 1988 on the evaluation of CALL) and then skip to the chapter focusing on that mode of CMC for inspiration and advice. The individual chapters would also benefit from some restructuring. For example, it would be helpful if the affordances of each mode of CMC were highlighted in some way, for example by bulleting them, and the name of the software application used was indicated in all screenshots. Further, the authors have not adequately addressed a number of important issues related to the use of CMC in language learning and teaching. First, one of the most important benefits of CMC is not discussed, namely its potential to put language learners in contact with native speakers of the target language and hence a situation in which they can acquire language (Jung, 2005) -- all of the extracts in the book are of student-teacher interactions. Second, with respect to the differences between the four modes of CMC, there is little discussion of how the choice of mode affects the type of language that is produced by the learners and widely-held concerns about the negative effects of exposing students to 'netspeak' are not addressed (see Levy and Stockwell (2006) for a synthesis of research findings). Third, the authors make frequent reference to the fact that learners are 'digital natives' (Prensky, 2001), happy working in online environments. Prensky's original paper was an opinion piece, as is Meskill's own paper (Meskill, 2007) which is cited as evidence of learners' digital literacy skills. While Meskill and Anthony are not alone in accepting Prensky's view, readers should be aware that many are also questioning the validity of the distinction between digital natives and digital immigrants and the surrounding discourse (Bayne and Ross, 2007; Bennett et al., 2008; Helsper and Eynon, 2010). I am sure that it was the authors' intention to demonstrate to teachers that it is easy to implement online teaching with today's learners because they are digital natives. However, I have become aware that the discourse around digital natives can make teachers more apprehensive about using technology in the classroom because they feel that learners may know more than them, embarrass them, and consequently undermine their authority. These criticisms aside, 'Teaching Languages Online' makes two important contributions to the literature on CMC in language learning: it proposes a model for teaching languages in CMC environments and it provides practical advice on the use of text and visuals in oral CMC to support and enhance language learning. As such, it is a valuable resource for those interested in integrating CMC into their teaching practice. REFRENCES Bayne, S and Ross, J (2007). The 'Digital Native' and 'Digital Immigrant': A Dangerous Opposition. A presented at Annual Conference of the Society for Research into Higher Education. Downloaded 05/12/10 from: http://www.malts.ed.ac.uk/staff/sian/natives_final.pdf Bennett, S, Maton, K and Kervin, L (2008). The 'Digital Natives' Debate: A Critical review of the Evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology. 39 (5): 775-786. Blake, Robert J. (2008). Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press. Helsper, E J and Eynon, R (2010). Digital Natives: Where is the Evidence? British Educational Research Journal. 36 (3): 503-520. Hubbard, P (1988). An Integrated Framework for CALL Courseware Evaluation. CALICO Journal. 6 (2): 51-72. Jung, U (2005). CALL: Past, Present, and Future -- A Bibliometric Approach. ReCALL. 17 (1): 4-17. Levy, M and Stockwell, G (2006). CALL Dimensions: Options and Issues in Computer-Assisted Language Learning. London: Lawrence Erlbaum. Prensky, M (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. 9 (5): 1-6. Sinclair, J. and Coulthard, M. (1975). Towards and Analysis of Discourse. New York: Oxford University Press. Tharp, R. (1993). Instruction and Social Context of Education Practice and Reform. In Forman, E., Minic, N, and Stone, A. (eds.). Contexts for Learning: Sociocultural Dynamics in Children's Development (pp. 269-282). New York: Oxford University Press. ABOUT THE REVIEWER Zöe Handley is currently Oxford University Press Research Fellow in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the use of new technologies in language learning. She recently completed a comprehensive systematic review of empirical research on the use of new technologies in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in primary and secondary classrooms. Her previous research has focused on the use of speech and language technologies in language learning, in particular pronunciation training. Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 06-Dec-2010       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.