ΤΕΙ ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗΣ/ LINGUA PROGRAM
Lingua Action 2-Development of Tools and Materials
Re: 90085-CP-1-2001-1-GR-LINGUA-L2
Project: HelloNet (http://hellonet.teithe.gr)
HelloNet: Hellenic Enjoyable Language Learning on the
Net
1. Short Summary
HelloNet is a three-year Lingua project aiming to offer on-line Greek courses for
exchange students in higher education. The main objective of this project is to
maximize the number of incoming students to a Greek institution by minimizing
the lack of information about Greece and the fact that Greek is one of the least
spoken European languages. In order for language barriers to drop the HelloNet
project has started developing on-line language courses for the teaching of
elementary Greek to university students. This educational material consists of a
multimedia intensive course supported by web-based extensive services (web site,
e-mail, newsletter) with information about Greek educational institutions and
various useful links about the host country. Also, part of the project is the
development of thematically restricted computer games and reference tools for the
Greek language; a lexicon, a grammar reference and reference about the historical
background of the host country.
The project's outputs will facilitate incoming students to smoothly integrate in the
Greek academic and social life and raise awareness of the Greek culture. It will
also help staff involved in monitoring mobility programs.
Moreover, the project aims at representing a linguistic model whose potential will
be to be adapted to all languages and to serve as a pattern for the production of online teaching materials as well as for the building of educational websites.
The institutions involved in HelloNet are: Technological Educational Institute of
Thessaloniki, GR (the co-ordinating institution), Technological Educational
Institute of Athens, GR, Universiteit Gent, BE, Universite de Liege, BE, Leader,
Lingua Formazione Comunicazione Interculturale, IT, Sociedade da Lingua
Portugesa, PT, Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres de Bourgogne, FR,
Institut des Sciences et Techniques des Aliments de Bordeaux, FR, Universidad
Politecnica de Valencia, ES and A. Amanatidou O.E. Grafikes Tehnes.
2. Introduction
Education traditionally involves a teacher delivering information to students in the
same room at the same time. However, as we move into the new millennium,
enabled by recent technological developments in communications technologies,
new forms of learning are currently emerging and have become part of the
educational landscape (Harasim 1993). More specifically, there exists an
education form where teachers and learners can choose the method of teaching
that suits them best and where the same location is not as important to the learning
process; this is the interactive classroom for distance education, a place tailored to
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specific needs which makes extensive use of information and communications
technologies. The case of distance education lacks the physical presence of the
teacher whose absence is what distinguishes, as mentioned above, this form of
learning from the traditional one. However, the physical absence does not imply
that there exists no contact between tutors and students. Technological
developments have enabled tutors to communicate with each other in other ways,
i.e. electronic mail and computer conferencing. Another distinguishing point about
distance education is that learning materials are specially designed and developed
for use by distance learners. Those materials have features as clearly stated
objectives, advice about how to study and make use of the reference materials,
meaningful input and helpful examples (Hegarty, M., Phelan, A. & Kilbride L.
eds.1998).
In the present case, HelloNet has developed Greek language teaching materials
based on principles for language teaching and on proposals for developing
multimedia, grounded in SLA research (Chapelle, 1998). The material is aimed at
developing language skills of listening comprehension, reading and writing and
the level targeted can be estimated as beginners.
3. Presentation
The course consists of 21 lessons; one introductory, 16 basic and 4 revision ones.
Before moving on to the lessons, the user has the possibility to select his/her
language by clicking on the icon with the flag of his/her country. This means that
all units are translated in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and French.
To be more specific, the introductory unit presents students with the Greek
alphabet. The user can navigate through it simply by clicking on the links on the
left side menu. This unit includes information about the vowels and consonants of
the Greek language and some practice exercises on them.
Now, as for the 16 basic units, every one of them is divided in five parts;
Presentation, Glossary, Practice, Grammar and the story of Carmelo.

The first part, Presentation, includes ‘Texts’ presenting a specific
communicative situation and ‘Useful expressions’ of the same situation. It
is important that you could use the vocabulary and expressions of the
Texts. The input of ‘Useful expressions’ should be studied but not
necessarily used.
 The second part is the Glossary. It includes every single word and
expression of the ‘Texts’.
 The third is the part of Practice. It includes a ‘Main Text’ followed by
‘Reading Comprehension Exercises’ where you are called to practise the
things you’ve learnt at Presentation and also to check on your level of
comprehension of the ‘Main Text’.
 The fourth part is the presentation of the Grammar. It is divided in the part
of the Theory and that of Practice exercises. The Theory part presents
meaningful input and not just grammatical rules. Also the presence of
Athena here makes it a lot easier for you to understand the grammar of he
Greek language.
We should also mention that the units include two forms of exercises; Reading
Comprehension exercises and grammar practice.
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
The last part of the units gives you the opportunity to follow the story of
our hero, Carmelo, a boy from Spain who comes to Greece as a mobility
student just like you! Carmelo has to deal with difficult situations and
problems but finally he pulls through and has a wonderful time.
Moreover, the project offers reference materials, a lexicon and a grammar
reference.
4. Pedagogical and didactic approaches
The employment of computers in education and research has become a reality and
numerous investigations have been conducted examining the educational potential
of CALL and how much students gain linguistically from working on it. To be
more specific, previous research suggests that information and communication
technologies in language teaching can facilitate communication (Cooper & Selfe
1990), reduce anxiety (Kern, 1995; Sullivan 1993), increase oral discussion (Pratt
& Sullivan, 1994), develop the writing/thinking connection (Warschauer, Turbee,
& Roberts 1996), facilitate social learning (Barker & Kemp, 1990), promote
egalitarian class structures (Cooper & Selfe 1990; Sproull & Kiesler 1991),
enhance student motivation (Warschauer 1996a), improve writing skills (Cohen &
Riel 1989; Cononelos & Oliva 1993; Warschauer 1996b) and finally result in
higher productivity (Warschauer & Meskill 2000).
The major learning theories that have influenced so far the production of the
present software material are the Communicative Approach and the most recent of
Constructivism. Those methodologies fall into the categories of Cognitive and
Socio-cognitive Approaches both of which have implications in the integration of
technologies in the language classroom (Warschauer 1996b). Contemporary
educators who view learning as interactive, discursive, and situated have argued
that well-designed online environments may be particularly suited to provide the
socio-cognitive support for learning seen as fundamental to constructivist
pedagogies (Lapadat 2002). In the past, programs accommodating the
Behaviourist Approach followed the grammar-translation method- in which
teachers explained grammatical rules and students performed translations- and
focused on error correction without taking into account the mental processes that
occurred in learning (Warschauer & Meskill 2000). Exercises based on these
programs worked on a ‘Wrong - Try again’ model and did not aim at encouraging
the student to communicate. In contrast, in the case of programs influenced by the
Communicative Approach we have examples of communicative tasks that focus
on the communicative aspects of the L2, rather than its linguistic ones, and
emphasise student engagement in authentic meaningful interaction. Also, the
Constructivism approach is associated with learning and teaching that involves
multiple perspectives, authentic activities and real-world environments.
Constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardised testing.
Instead, assessment becomes part of the learning process so that the students start
judging their own progress (Jonassen 1995). Moreover, according to Lebow
(1993), one of the 7 values of the constructivist framework is personal autonomy,
a basic element of the Student-Centred Learning approach which argues that more
effective learning is generated when students take responsibility of their own
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learning as they have different learning needs and styles and make use of various
learning strategies (Papert 1993).
Consequently, we have tried to transfer the principles mentioned above into the
design of the HelloNet corpus. One way was by means of materials which are put
in the context of authentic and semi-authentic real-world based situations
supported by authentic tasks. Also, it incorporates flexible feedback mechanisms
and we wish in the future it would include a database system for tracking user
performance.
In addition to the methodological principles for language learning and teaching,
Chapelle’s (1998) ‘Seven hypotheses relevant for developing multimedia CALL’
were seriously considered:
1. The linguistic characteristics of target language input need to be made
salient for input enhancement.
2. Learners should receive help in comprehending semantic and syntactic
aspects of linguistic input.
3. Learners need to have opportunities to produce language output.
4. Learners need to notice errors in their own output.
5. Learners need to correct their linguistic output.
6. Learners need to engage in target interaction whose structure can be
modified fro negotiation of meaning.
7. Learners should engage in L2 tasks designed to maximise opportunities for
good interaction.
We have seen so far that in order for HelloNet to be effective for language
learning, it integrates methodological principles that are well grounded in SLA
theories.
5. Aims and objectives
As already mentioned, the objective of the proposed project is to cover the needs
of European University students to learn basic Greek language communication
skills before taking part in a mobility exchange program, and to have a systematic
source of information about Greek educational institutions and the Greek
academic life and culture.
Within this framework, HelloNet (Hellenic Enjoyable Language Learning on the
Net) is website which provides:
a) on-line distance learning educational material for the teaching of elementary
Greek to university students; a multimedia intensive course (with text, audio,
video) and other materials supported by web-based services (i.e. e-mail, IRC
etc) in a user-friendly environment and free of charge.
b) web-based extensive services with information about Greek institutions and
various useful links. This information will facilitate incoming students to
smoothly integrate in the Greek educational and social life and raise awareness
of the Greek culture. It also helps staff that is involved in monitoring mobility
programs. Information is provided in all partners’ languages and in English.
The course is provided free of charge to students of European universities as the
aim of the project is mainly educational and not commercial.
The project is developing a model with a two-fold use: tailor-made courses to
teach a European language to mobility students and a website unique in its form
whose information meets the needs of the target group. This model when finished
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could be adapted to all European languages and serve as a pattern for the
production of educational material as well as the building of similar websites.
With the integration of computer tools and the Internet, the project promotes the
acquisition of language skills, the understanding of different cultures and
strengthens the European dimension in education. It helps to encourage
educational exchanges, promotes distance learning and the diffusion of
information and uses information and communication technologies and innovative
language learning teaching tools in the educational environment. It encourages the
sharing of best practices, as it is developed in cooperation with other partners. It
produces teaching materials for clearly defined target groups and will produce
language tools that are underrepresented in the market. The material produced
helps the target group to meet the requirements of particular situations and
contexts and is generic and not ESP. It improves the distribution and availability
of products because being available on the net, it is accessible from any computer,
any time 24hrs/day.
Last but not least, the project is innovative because:
 it develops teaching materials for a specific target population
 it uses new technologies
 it fills a commercial gap as there is no such material available in the
market
 it is available and accessible 24/hrs a day from anywhere
 it uses a variety of teaching means
 it promotes one of the less taught European languages
 it defines new roles for teachers and students
 it raises cultural awareness.
6. Design Principles
Design, preparation and programming of the present computer-based platform
entailed more time in the development than the people involved ever estimated.
There has been a clear attempt to bring together a variety of multimedia functions
in a pedagogically effective way. In order for the material to be appropriate for
language learning over distance the importance of interaction was primarily taken
into consideration. Thus, the core for interactive communication is a strong
message and a clear presentation (Kristof & Satran 1995).
It is our belief that HelloNet presents learners with a user-friendly interface. The
program is easy to navigate and provides the essential elements of on screen help
and exit features. Also, a further feature is the presence of reference materials of
grammar and a glossary. Moreover, it provides learners with audio input recorded
by native speakers in an attempt to expose them to a variety of accents. Another
positive element is the presentation of paralinguistic features supported by
appropriate cultural information. However, we should accept the fact that being
used as a material over distance it would not be valuable for the development of
oral communication fluency.
A variety of task types are used; true/false, multiple choice, gap filling etc.
Feedback is instantaneous and in the form of green ticks and red crosses. The
learner may take a look at the answers of each task simply by clicking on the key
icon and then move on to performing the tasks for as many times as he/she
pleases.
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Last, the material in an attempt to be more appealing to the target group, includes
some computer games that during the learning activities the learner can stop, play
at any time and then go back to the lessons. The theme of those games is
influenced by the Greek mythology.
7. Evaluation
At this point, we should mention that within the framework of HelloNet program
we have conducted a formative evaluation during the development process where
students (users) and colleagues were consulted about both the usability and
learnability of the first two trial lessons. People involved in the survey had to
answer 19 questions of a questionnaire distributed to them via e-mail. In total 25
respondents (male and female) replied, 20 of foreign institutions and 5 Greek.
Also, the questionnaire consisted of both questions with yes/no answers, as well as
open-ended ones which expected suggestions and comments from the people
asked. The outcomes of the survey have been of great help to the designing and
building of the lessons of the specific program. The evaluation has been
conducted for more than a month. As feedback was taken under serious
consideration various changes were immediately made. Therefore, not every
person asked has evaluated exactly the same product.
In sum, most users were optimistic about the course and enthusiastic not only with
its material, but with its well-structured design as well. Indeed, while there is a
need to make students enthusiastic about the subject matter, it must be
remembered that depth of learning is a desire to understand. It is not the same as
enthusiasm for the subject.
With reference to the above, a considerable percentage believes that the material
of the course is well organized, aiming at developing the language skills of
listening comprehension, reading and writing. It is also believed that IT has the
capacity to allow for variation in ways of practicing and getting immediate
feedback which would lead to assessment for deeper learning, while at the same
time it promotes autonomous learning.
However, consistently on the questionnaires, remarks indicate a need for further
clarifications mainly about the objectives of the course and its philosophy.
Therefore, we can make students aware of the approaches to learning and get them
to think about how they study, and perhaps then they might adopt a more
responsible approach to assessment. Among the ideas brought towards this
dirction, is the existence of an on-line tutor or the creation of a discussion forum
where students from different countries could share their impressions and ideas in
regard to the course. Last but not least, in discussion it was felt that a more
comprehensive approach on the cultural and sociological aspects of the Greek
society would complement the course.
8. Conclusion
In conclusion, given the fact that appropriate use of new technologies provides
students with opportunities for autonomous learning and allows for a more
integration of language, content and culture (Warschauer 2000), the HelloNet
project is making an attempt to promote the Greek language. Greek, being one of
the less spoken and taught European languages is considered an obstacle to
Erasmus students who might have chosen a Greek institution for an exchange
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program. For this purpose, we at HelloNet have built a site offering lessons of the
Greek language supported by information about Greece. Those lessons have been
designed based on methodological principles for language learning and teaching
and on proposals for developing multimedia, grounded in SLA research (Chapelle
1998).
We are very well aware of the fact that using and implementing information and
communication technologies in language learning demands substantial
commitments of time and money and brings no guaranteed results. However, it is
our hope that the present project will meet its aims and objectives and that we will
soon welcome more European students at our institution.
References
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http://llt.msu.edu/vol1num1/chapelle/default.html
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York: Praeger
Cohen, M. & Riel, M. (1989). The effect of distant audiences on students.
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APPENTIX 1
EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Do you find the platform user friendly?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
2. Is navigation easy and flexible?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
3. Is it easy for someone with minor computer skills to make use of it?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
4. Are graphics/ symbols clear to the user?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
5. Is the layout (use of colours, fonts, icons) appealing to you?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
6. Are instructions understandable?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
7. Is the language input meaningful?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
8. Is audio input clear and easy for you to reproduce the sounds?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
9. Do you find comprehension tasks and language activities useful?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
10. Are you satisfied with the range of activities?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
11. Do you find feedback immediate and adequate?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
12. As far as exercises are concerned, would you rather been scored?
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YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
13. Do you find the reference materials complete and sufficient?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
14. Do you think you would you use the reference materials often?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
15. Apart from videos that are not loaded yet, what else would you rather get
at an on-line course? (Please be specific)
16. Do you feel that the specific software offers you free choice of what to
watch and listen to and how much?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
17. In general, do you think that this package promotes autonomous learning?
Do you think you can work on it at your own pace?
YES
NO
OTHER (PLEASE EXPLAIN)
18. Do you have any suggestions to make?
19. Do you have any comments?
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