Dealing with Computer-Related
Anxiety in the Project-Oriented
CALL Classroom
報告人：
碩專應英二甲 杜孟純 ( Lisa )
Introduction

(1) Motivation: Although new technologies can
offer teachers more relevant and stimulating
language materials, they also give rise to frustration
and anxiety that can inhibit the process of language
learning.

(2) Background: If students are to engage with new
computing technologies in a major way, teachers
need to develop strategies for establishing, nurturing,
and sustaining the students’ relationship to
technology (Murray, 1998)

(3) Purpose of the Study: This paper discusses
ways of reducing computer-related anxiety among
foreign language students.
(4) Definition of Terms

CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning.

PrO-CALL: Project-Oriented CALL
Meta-level Approach: 3.1~3.6 (P.384-390)
Affective Filter: 情感過濾假說
Debilitating Anxiety 妨礙性焦慮
Facilitating Anxiety 促進性焦慮
 Affective
Filter (情感過濾假說)
此為Stephen Krashen針對第二語言習得所提的五個假說之
一。他將情意的濾網(affective filter)比喻為一道無形的
牆，存在學習者及所輸入的內容間。
消極的態度、缺少動機及學習的熱情，均被視為一種濾網，
阻礙學習者對輸入訊息的運作，進而影響第二語言學習的成
果。因此當學習者覺得無聊、生氣、緊張、沒有動力、疲倦
或有壓力時，就無法完全接受學習的內容，他們會自我遮蔽
(screen)學習的內容。
所以學習者的心情和態度是足以影響學習品質的重要因素。
當恐懼、害羞等負面情緒指數低時，學習效率就提升；反之，
則學習品質降低。
Methodology

A German PrOCALL classroom

(1) The aim of the project was to engage students
in collaborative group work in which they
researched topics and then published the results
in the form of group Web pages.

(2) Period: Over three years (1997~1999)

(3) Class Time: 12-week university semester and
each class was one hour in length.

(4) Participants: 50 tertiary students of German at
the University of Melbourne.

(5) Class Size: The students were divided into three
separate classes with class sizes ranging from 22 to
6 students.

(6) Class Requires: The project had a research and
a written production component.

(7) Topics for Writing
In 1997 “ foreigners and xenophobia”
In 1998 “ political parties and the political system in Germany”
In 1999 “ any aspect of German culture that interested them”
Methodology

The use of technology

(1) Qualitative Study

(2) Instruments:
Word 6, Netscape 4.0, Claris Homepage 2.0 and
Adobe Photoshop, WYSIWIG-HTML editor,
Fetch 3.0 (upload), E-mail…
Factors affecting anxiety
and “ technophobia ”
Technophobia : 恐懼新科技
 Factors affecting anxiety:


(1) the relative degree of freedom

(2) learner-centred approach

(3) the extensive use of unfamiliar
technologies (the most significant source of
anxiety)
Computer anxiety
as an affective factor

(1) Stephen Krashen: Three factors that affect the process of
language acquisition

A. Computer-induced

B. Motivation

C. Self-confidence

(2) Implication: Whether affective variables can cancel each
other out, leaving it up to other researchers in the field to an
acceptable measure of the way positive and negative
variables interacts. (Chastain, 1975; Kleinmann, 1977;
Larsen-Freeman & Long, 1991; Scovel, 1978)
Dealing with Computer Anxiety

Meta-level Approach

(1) Historicizing computing technology

(2) New technologies and instrumental rationality

(3) The social ramifications of new information
technologies

(4) Exploring the “ global village “

(5) Publishing on the WWW
Dealing with Computer Anxiety






(6) Practical consideration
6.1 Access
6.2 Acquisition of computer skills
6.3 Compatibility and standardization
6.4 Class size and group work
6.5 Design issues
Conclusion

In summary, learner frustration can be minimized
or at least put into perspective if the PrOCALL
classroom directly addresses the issue of the
problematic nature of much technological innovation.

The PrOCALL classroom is not only a classroom
experiment, it is also a real-life experiment in which
learners share their values, their belief systems and
ideas with readers from other cultures and other
social-economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds.