A Revision

Entitled
Using Computer Software to Complete Vocabulary Exercises in an
ESL Classroom to Increase the Quality of a learners Output

Originally submitted as partial requirement for English 5/7980 a special

topics seminar in computers and language instruction
at the University of Toledo on 12/11/00

By
Darryl Salter
Re submitted on 4/11/13

Introcuction
The purpose in creating any computer assisted language learning program is to help
the students learn a topic or area of study in the target language. For our groups purpose, we
focused on the creation of a web page to assist second language learners in learning the new
vocabulary and exercises associated with performing tasks in another culture. The task is
to find the items of a recipe in the different departments at a local Supermarket (Please see
appendix A). The assignment after the task will be to test the new vocabulary learned in a
series of exercises. Vocabulary that would be used in everyday life (Clark, 1993). The
materials used will be a web page of a virtual supermarket where the student can navigate
through the store. Questions arise when considering if computers are effective as a tool in
second language acquisition (Chapelle 1995). What are the sociocultural and classroom
contexts in which SLA occurs? Is the input to the learners, the reactions they have, and their
output of good quality (Dunkel, 1991)? Since the project deals with situational factors of
language learning the thesis of this paper will have a theoretical four-part approach to
systematical functional linguistics. The four interrelated areas that will be discussed are,
Sociocultural Setting, Language Program and class, and Activity and Task.

Thesis
Through the use of comprehensible input, does the use of computer software to
complete certain learning tasks such as vocabulary exercises in a language classroom
enhance, increase or change the quality of a learners reactions and output?

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Topic
The topic that our group selected was a web page where students can learn a new
vocabulary in a specific setting and then to perform exercises using the new vocabulary. The
setting will be a super market in America where a young student is sent, possibly by a
relative, to buy the ingredients for a recipe for the family dinner. The student will need to
navigate through a store in which s/he has never been to before. Once all ingredients have
been found, the student will be asked to complete multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short
writing tasks.

Sociocultural Setting
The students for this hypothetical class could come from a varied background such as
immigrants or children of immigrants. The ages of these students are approximately nine
to twelve. The students could be enrolled in an American public school or planning to
attend one. In second language education, for example, the likelihood of a potential
innovation such as technology depends in part on the value society places on traditional
education relative to potential improvements that may be obtained through innovation
(Chapelle, 1990). The successes of technology in education will be influenced, partially,
by weather or not that technology is compatible with a particular culture. Societal values
also influence the amount of financial support made available by governments,
businesses, and other agencies for development in applied linguistics. The resource-intensive
nature of language related software plays a significant role in the financial considerations
of computer assisted language learning (CALL). The potential quality of any CALL
program may rest in large part on the sociocultural context, which supports or fails to
support its development, use, and evaluation. As a result, finding the specific interactions of

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culture and values that CALL offers.
Language Program and Class
This next section consists of the educational institution and its components
which are supported by sociocultural factors. Meaning, if there is no real market for these
new technologies for language learning in a particular area, call programs would not be
implemented. Educational institutions are businesses and the ones of primary concern for
CALL are language classes and programs. Schools in which language programs are
situated reflect societal values. The values are clear, for example, if test scores in a
district were low, a school board would be held accountable. with this realized, a test
driven curricula would be most likely implemented (Chapelle, 1990).
The evaluation of CALL innovations would be done by students, teachers, and
administrators on the basis of improvement in students increased test scores. While
language programs inherit some of the values of the surrounding society, they themselves
create a distinct context combination of human and program factors. For example, most
of the English language programs at the college and secondary levels in America are for
instruction in composition because of the need improvement in surface and deep
structures in English.
In contrast, when the sociocultural contexts supports the use of technology, but
when CALL is not used in a particular language program, which could be the result of other
program factors. The existence and nature of computer-assisted activities occurring in
second language classes could be linked to the program level. More research is needed
to document the specific influences as they work in various language programs.

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Activity and Task
The remaining two sections of the context, activity and task, comprise the immediate
uses for CALL. Activity and task are used in many different ways in applied linguistics
but it appears that the term task is the most popular for describing interactional settings
for instruction (Dunkel, 1991). The framework for a second language activity is
comprised of the cognitive and physical actions perceived as necessary for participation
in goal directed work in an instructional setting. Figure 1 shows the basic framework for
a second language activity.
Figure 1:
Field
Goal of activity
Language teaching /learning. Assessing language ability to make instructional decisions.
Assessing language ability to make inferences about language acquisition.
Type of activity topic
Signal or thematically related topic
Multiple unrelated linguistic topics
Location of activity
Single common location (e.g., classroom, a home, or laboratory)
Tenor
Learner
Relationship to participants (e.g., relatives, status, comfort, knowledge)
Other learners
Relationship to participants (e.g., relatives, status, comfort, knowledge)
Instructor
Relationship to participants (e.g., relatives, status, comfort, knowledge)
Computer
Relationship to participants (e.g., relatives, status, comfort, knowledge)
Mode
Role of the language (e.g., regulating, practicing, displaying ability)
Medium of messages

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The types of goals defined at the activity level express directly the instructional setting in
which they are situated. In the L2 classroom, the goal is to teach and learn. Field refers to
the goals, topics, and locations of an activity. Tenor denotes the participants and their
relationships. Lastly, Mode refers to the language of the activity (Chapelle, 1995). Other
goals might be to gather data on learners abilities.
The most intricate level of analysis for a CALL context is the second language task.
Like the activity framework, field, mode, and tenor define the task framework
constructs. Figure 2 illustrates the framework for second language tasks.
Figure 2:
Field
Goal of task (same as activity)
Type of task
Nature of topics (non-linguistic[e.g., making airline reservations] same as activity)
Location of participants
Tenor
Learner
Relationship to topic (e.g., level of knowledge and interest), goals (e.g., goal setter or negotiator)
Other participants (e.g., relative status, comfort, knowledge)
Other participants/other learners
Relationship to topic (e.g., level of knowledge and interest), goals (e.g., goal setter or negotiator)
Other participants (e.g., relative status, comfort, knowledge)
Instructor
Relationship to topic (e.g., level of knowledge and interest), goals (e.g., goal setter or negotiator)
Other participants (e.g., relative status, comfort, knowledge)
Computer
Relationship to topic (e.g., level of knowledge and interest), goals (e.g., goal setter or negotiator)
Other participants (e.g., relative status, comfort, knowledge)
Mode
Role of language
Input to the learner (e.g., give instructions) Output from learner (e.g., describe)
Interaction (e.g., negotiation of meaning, answering questions)

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Medium of changes
Input (e.g., aural, face-to-face; written on computer screen)
Output (e.g., oral over the phone, written on paper)
Nature of language
Input to the learner (e.g., grammatical, pragmatic)
Output from the learner (e.g., grammatical, pragmatic)
Interaction
Coherence and cohesion of text
Structure of text (e.g., length of turns)
Level of adaptivity (e.g., somewhat adaptive; not adaptive)

In many ways, tasks may be similar to the activities in which they take place.
The most important distinction to make is the way in which activities and tasks are
analyzed. Activities can be globally and intuitively defined, however, tasks are defined
through empirical research which investigate components of the task in action.
The activity in our groups simulation, is a visit to the supermarket for the purpose
of getting food for two simple recipes, a hamburger and a salad. Students will navigate
through a web page through four departments in a supermarket while collecting items on a
pre-written list. Then after the students have successfully identified all of the correct
items on their lists, they will be tested on their understanding with the use of fill-in the
blank and short writing exercises.
Methods
The target language for the students who will use this simulation is English. Their
Homogeneity and cultural background could be from a variety of different areas. This
created some special problems in designing a simulation. Students of different
backgrounds learn differently. For instance, students from Middle Eastern countries are
more proficient in their speech, while Asian students are less proficient in speech. The

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proficiency level of the particular ages in this hypothetical class also varies greatly. These
students could range from a beginning to a high intermediate level of language learning
depending on whatever previous instruction they may have had. In order to make the input of
the simulation more comprehensible, the choice to give the students an activity or task that
may occur in everyday life seemed more appropriate. This would make the task more
meaningful and authentic to the students.
Once the topic, target learner, and proficiency level was established, the next duty of
the group or production team is to proceed through a series of steps to create the simulation.
The first step included a storyboarding discussion meeting. This involved discussing the
various techniques to arrange images in a simulation in a log sequential order. Figure 3
illustrates a sample of simple drawings that might be produced at a typical storyboarding
session.
Figure 3:

At first, the drawings are very rough. Then, after Ideas and concepts develop the drawing
become more detailed. The evolution of the departments concept in a supermarket gave
the designer more freedom and control over task. The original design included a looping
video clip illustrating a shopping cart moving from department to department, but due to

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time constraints, this feature was dropped. Secondly, after finalization, the storyboard artist
and the audio/visual technician begin to discuss the feasibility of creating images as close as
possible to those in the story board. A preliminary set of images was collected by the
technician from various sources, which included general views using the story board as a
guide. During the next group meeting, the images were viewed, discussed, revised, and added
to. After three revision shooting sessions and meetings there were a total of thirty images.
Once all the images were approved, the technician downloaded the raw images from a digital
camera into image editing software. The third step, which involved manipulating the images
in the simulation, was perhaps the most difficult of all.
All of the group members had little or no computer experience of this type so the use of
HTML creation software was necessary. Dream Weaver 3.0 (Microsoft) is a web based
software used to create HTML pages. A copy of this software was available to the group for a
limited time through a licensing agreement through the University of Toledo. The software
was used to manipulate the images and incorporate them into the HTML pages. First, a home
page was created with tutorials in the Dream Weaver program. Second, images were grouped
and resized into the home, binary, and tertiary parts of the pages. Details such as linking the
binary and tertiarys together were completed after the group discussed several revisions.
Lastly, other features were added to the pages such as colored text and navigation bars to
help the students, teachers, and designers with the simulation (see Appendix B).
As a means of testing the input provided by the lesson and the simulation, the group
decided to include written exercises. One of these exercises was incorporated into the
simulation. Identification of the actual items on the shopping list can be typed into the
blank spaces under the image. Other written exercises, which are multiple choice and a short

descriptive paragraph, were included into an ancillary power point presentation. Figure 4
ENGL 5/7980 Darryl Salter Page 9
illustrates a prompt of sample questions in the multiple choice and descriptive paragraph
portions of the lesson.
Figure 4:
Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer to the following questions.
The main ingredient in salad is?

The main ingredient in a hamburger is?

a. Carrots
b. Tomatoes
c. Hamburger
d. Lettuce

a. Tomatoes
b. Carrots
c. Hamburger
d. Cucumbers

Descriptive Paragraph: A letter to a friend

In a short paragraph or two, write a letter to a friend in your home country describing
your trip to the Toledo Supermarket. Try to include as many of the new
items/vocabulary as you can in your letter. Reminder: all of the rules for good grammar
count.

Once all sections of the simulation and supporting materials were checked and saved onto a
group members notebook computer, which is where most of the software manipulation was
done; different versions of back-ups were made. First, all HTML pages and images were
saved to floppy disc. Then as a second precaution, all materials except the power point
information was copied onto a writeable compact disc. The reason for these precausions other
than computer systems failure, is the fact that Dream Weaver is time-limited freeware that
become unusable after apporximatly thirty days.
Results
To detect any flaws or obstacles in the presentation or simulation, the group practiced

a Dry-run of the lesson, as it would be taught in a classroom. One member of the group
ENGL 5/7980 Darryl Salter Page 10
performed the oral portion of the lesson, while the others acted as students. After examining
the fill-in-the-blank portion of the simulation, it was clear that the students could have some
difficulty in distingusing some of the grocery items in the simulation that are pictured as
count or mass nouns. The wording in some of the sentences was discussed and reworked to
facilitate easier understanding of single and multiple items in the simulation.
Other difficulties were the obvious time contrantis and group member availability.
As the coencdental group leader, I felt overwhelmed at times because of the amount of work
of the various duties. At one point, I was the storyboardist, audiovisual technition, software
technition, and report recorder all at once. Having unriliable group members was also a
handicap for our group. I understand that there are a limited number of graduate level
students enrolled in the course, but perhaps graduates from another group could have been reassinghned to make smaller groups. In this particular situation, both the students in the
groups and the instructor are limited in what they can do.

References and Citations

Chapelle, C. A. (1995). A framework for the investigation of CALL as a context
for SLA. CAELL Journal, 6:3, 2-8.
Chapelle, C. A. (1990). The discourse of computer-assisted language learning: toward a context of descriptive research. TESOL Quarterly, 24, 199-225.
Clark, E. V. (1993). The Lexicon in Acquisition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press.
Dunkel, P. (1991) The effectiveness research on computer-assisted instruction andcomputer assisted language learning. In P. Dunkel (Ed.), Computer-assisted
language learning and testing: Research issues and practice. New York: Newbury.
Dream Weaver 3.0 (1997). Microsoft Corporation, Redmond Washington.

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Appendix A
These are sample handouts illustrating the shopping lists and recipes that are incorporated
into the overall lesson.

Shopping List
Here is what a shopping list might look like when you go to the market. Your job will be to
choose one of the lists below, go to the market, and identify the items on each list. You may
Know some of the items already, but some you may not. After each of you use the simulation,
there will be some exercises to check if you were able to find all of the items.

6 Hamburger Sandwiches

Garden Salad for 2

1 package of ground beef

1 head of lettuce

1 package of hamburger buns

1 package of carrots

1 head of lettuce

1 bundle of broccoli

3 tomatoes

1 package of radishes

1 jar of mayonnaise

1 tomato
1 bottle of dressing

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Recipes
Here is a description of the two recipes that go with the shopping lists. Since cooking is
culturaly different in many countries, just basic methods of cooking are illustrated here.
Dont worry if you do not understand gome of the gammar and adjectives used to describe
the cooking process. Just try to understand the items and their relation to the recipes.
6 Hamburger Sandwiches
1.Separate the hamburger meat into 6 equal flat round pieces (patties).
2. Fry the pieces in a skillet until desired.
3. Prepare hamburger buns with mayonnaise on top or bottom of buns.
4. Wash and cut lettuce.
5. Wash and cut tomatoes.
6. Place meat on lower part of the bun.
7. Place tomatoes and lettuce on the bun in desired order.
8. Serve.
Garden Salad for 2
1. Wash and cut lettuce to desired size.
2. Add to salad bowl
3. Wash and cut broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, and radishes to desired size.
4. Add to salad bowl and mix (toss).
5. Add desired salad dressing.

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Appendix B
Here is a screen image of the supermarket homepage. The four departments: produce, dairy,
baked goods, and deli meats are illustrated. Using a pointing device to click on the image, the
student can navigate through the different departments of the navigation bar can be used.

Here is another screen image at the binary level illustrating the produce department. Once
again, clicking on the image or the navigation bar can reveal individual items.