EFL – EAP online: Teaching oral skills to undergraduate
students in Iran through synchronous computer mediated
communication (CMC).
QUESTIONS:
1. What kind of conversation assignments best facilitate
online language learning ?
2.
Which pedagogical and technical skills do
conversation facilitators need to promote
language learning ?
James Coburn
Learning is situated
Course design and requirements for pedagogical skills are
dependent on:
sociocultural factors:
- context ( culture, history)
- institutional constraints
- learners’ language levels and life situations
- teachers’ backgrounds
technical affordances
- quality of internet
Therefore, transferability is limited, but lessons can still be learned
BIHE at a glance – see www.bihe.org
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BIHE was founded in 1987
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BIHE offers over 700 courses
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BIHE has approximately 275 staff and faculty
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BIHE accepts about 250 students into its first year programs
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An average of 1000 students apply to BIHE every year
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BIHE has three faculties with 17 undergraduate degree programs and 10 graduate
programs
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BIHE graduates have been accepted at more than 60 different university graduate
programs outside of Iran in:
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USA, Canada,, Australia, New Zealand,, India, UK, Germany, France, Netherlands,
Norway
BIHE EFL-EAP programme
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Students often need to use English for Majors
BIHE increasingly online - EFL fully online
Started 2005 with pilot project
Now 5 EFL courses (EFL100-101-102-103-104)
Students enter at different levels (entry test)
Obligatory to pass EFL104 to graduate
CDs and moodle-based course site
Course assessment - 80% written – 20% oral
EFL teachers correct written assignments
Conversation Facilitators hold conversations
Affordances (constraints and possibilities)
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Slow unreliable internet
Blocking and Censoring (e.g Skype)
Some poor student equipment
Lack of technical training and orientation
No multimedia or Web 2.0 assignments
Surveillance and interference
Need for students to work as well as study
Availability of volunteers with ADSL
Theory, methodology, design
• CMC studies = Audio and/or Chat
• Action research 2006 -> cycles.
• Researcher as insider - interviews,
questionnaires, e-mail, conversations,
engagement
• Sociocultural approach ( BIHE, Iran, online)
• Topic-based not task-based assignments
• Open-ended questions
• Obligatory preparation
• Conversation topics originally related to written
course
Conversation Facilitators (CFs)
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Varied backgrounds
Basic technical training given
Basic pedagogical training: facilitators not instructors
Mentoring
Conversation theory
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IRF ( Initiative – response – feedback)
IRF and handover
Contingency and creativity vs monotony
Symmetry, initiative and participation
Example of best practice: pedagogical skills
• use questions “flexibly not rigidly’’
• “avoid directing the conversation all the
time…seek a circular conversation…true
dialogue’’.
• “it’s a partnership” – “paramount importance of
building good relationships”
• Worthwhile “as long as the students feel
empowered and elated’’
• “silences are normal in most conversations”
• “walk with the students at their level’’
Pedagogical dilemna
• ''get them to make mistakes so they learn'' ...
"because often your greatest learning is when
you make a mistake".
• "Exercises in 'tripping people up a bit' can help
them to learn"....
• ''true learning would happen if the CFs had to
ask questions on the spot''
• But students ''want to feel quite safe'' and ''want
to get it right''.
• So he ''sticks to the questions'‘ …because he
''doesn't want to stress the students out''.
Example of best practice: technical skills
• Use of written chat as support tool
• Can be used for discreet correction ( e.g
really vs rarely)
• Can provide links and send files ( e.g
photos) to break the ice and personalize
• Can bring variety through word games –
e.g illustrating appropriateness of genres (
u-you; 2- to; coz-because)
Findings for task design
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Need to differentiate according to language level
Need for more variation in assignments
Need for more participant-centred topics
Findings lead to introduction of new assignments using:
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Useful conversational expressions
Role plays
Stories and open-ended stories
Texts including target vocabulary from written course
Student presentations
Student choices of topic
Articles from students’ Majors chosen by students
Findings for: technical, personal
and pedagogical skills
1. Need to exploit online affordances
(audio/chat/messaging between
conversations/sending links and materials)
2. Critical to develop positive relations to
overcome anxiety
3. Need for CFs to prepare, be flexible, try to
empower
Further research...
Transferability
• Online language learning
- Synchronous element is important
Necessary to develop interactive oral skills
Human contact can help to sustain distanced learners
Immediate possibility to ensure understanding
- Audio/chat vs audiographic/webcam ?
Under-stimulation or over-stimulation ?
Make the most of what you’ve got !
- Teacher as instructor or facilitator ?
Different roles require different skills and attitudes
Time demands of synchronous CMC
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Course and assignment design
Must take into account sociocultural factors and technical
constraints. Participants need to be given choice and influence