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THIS paper reports on various components of the recently developed Arabic for Communication Interactive Multimedia Program (AC) at the University of Michigan. It describes students’ attitudes to the program and points out some of the benefits of integrating multimedia into Arabic instruction as well as the challenges that media developers face with regard to time, cost, and complex development requirements.
In response to the various needs and demands of the increasing number of students of Arabic at the University of Michigan in recent years, 32% of whom expressed interest in learning Arabic for professional and career purposes (fig. 1),1we have revised our Arabic language courses at the intermediate level to include two tracks: the Arabic for Academic Purposes track, for students concentrating in Arabic or those who want to continue studying the language for academic purposes (Arabic 201–02); the Arabic for Communication track, for students, members of the community, and government personnel who want to expand their knowledge of Arabic for communication and career purposes (Arabic 203–04).
The AC Program has been designed in such a manner that it can be fully integrated into the syllabus of the intermediate Arabic for Communication courses. It can also be used as a supplement in the intermediate Arabic for Academic Purposes courses or serve independently in a self-study environment to accommodate nontraditional students, members of the business community, or government personnel.
The program aims to improve learners’ oral-aural proficiency to enable learners to use formal spoken standard Arabic in basic communicative tasks and in social situations. It is also intended to motivate students to study Arabic on their own and to make them responsible for their own learning. Arabic for Communication is designed to help learners appreciate Arabic language and culture through the integration of video, audio, graphics, maps, sound, and music with text. Another important goal is to help colleagues understand how to integrate technology into foreign language instruction, what it costs to develop instructional technology programs, and what challenges face developers while producing them.
The AC program consists of four CD-ROMs containing twenty multimedia lessons, a users’ manual, and requirements for installation. There are four sets of lessons located in four folders and also four shortcuts to each of the lesson sets to run the programs (fig. 2). One theme unifies the program: the activities of an American who obtained a job in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The lessons are arranged by situational topics pertinent to communication, social, and business interactions. Situations include asking for and obtaining travel information, buying tickets, making flight arrangements, conversing on the telephone, asking about airport arrival and departure, exchanging money, checking in at a hotel, extending and accepting invitations, making reservations, ordering a meal, making an appointment, and talking business. Each lesson is supported by computer images and video- and audiocassettes. The set of dialogues utilizes a specific form of spoken standard Arabic or what T. F. Mitchell calls educated spoken Arabic, which is flexible enough to be understood throughout the Arab world.
All students who successfully completed the intermediate Arabic for Communication courses at the university, where the twenty multimedia lessons were fully integrated with the syllabus, have developed proficiency in speaking and listening at the ACTFL Intermediate-Mid level or above. This level is characterized by the ability of the learners “to handle successfully a variety of uncomplicated basic and communicative tasks and social situations” (Hiple).
The design of the AC program was based on current pedagogical principles of second language acquisition and took full advantage of the Macintosh-based Gemini authoring package,2 which uses Hypercard as its foundation. We also benefited from other models (Hope, Taylor, and Pusack 53–70; Underwood 32–68; Chun and Plass, “Networked Multimedia Environments”; Burston). The design of the multimedia lessons was intended to create environments that would engage learners in meaningful exercises and activities that would improve their oral-aural language skills and enhance communicative and sociocultural competence. The availability of sample buttons and fields in the Gemini software enabled us to create several environments and tools that supported the various cognitive processes involved in second language learning. Among these tools were a record-and-compare environment for pronunciation and intonation practice, a simulated dialogue practice in which learners were prompted to record their responses to various situations presented in short video-audio clips at the discourse level, multiple-choice responses in which learners chose an answer close to their own and received feedback on the appropriateness of their choice, and a tracking mechanism to gather user data for both formative and summative evaluation.3 These tools were designed for students to use in a constructive manner as they actively became engaged in processing the information they wished to gain.
Influenced by current approaches and methodologies for teaching second languages, we used an integrated, eclectic, learner-centered methodology, which gave us freedom to design whatever drills and activities seemed to work effectively in different situations. This methodology makes considerable use of problem-solving and guided learning strategies intended to help students internalize newly learned items and to perform various tasks and activities successfully. A unique feature of this methodology is that it combines grammatical competence with communicative and sociocultural competence, thus addressing the concern of today’s students of Arabic, who want to acquire fluency and linguistic accuracy. Cultural awareness is stressed through use of authentic video- and audiocassettes; visual stimuli such as maps, charts, images, and brochures; and native-speaker performances and cultural explanations. The purpose here is to illustrate many facets of Arab culture, allowing students to observe the use of body language and certain nonverbal modes of communication.
In addition, the Gemini authoring package allowed us to use strategies aimed at motivating learners to get involved in the learning process, to work at their own pace, to be in full control of their learning, to imitate and record their own voice for comparison with the native-speaker model, to choose whatever exercises or activities they wanted to practice, and most important to enjoy what they learned.
Each lesson provides opportunities for students to become acquainted with a situation and the language functions it includes and then to practice and perform tasks initiated by the situation: imitating, recording, comparing, responding to questions, getting feedback, testing answers, and so on. A typical lesson follows a four-stage sequence: model dialogue, language functions, practice exercises (fig. 3), and application in the classroom.
The model-dialogue section begins with an overview of the lesson objectives (fig. 4). This overview is followed by controlled intensive practice with the model dialogue, new vocabulary, and key language functions and expressions (fig. 5). Note that the computer allows the students to hear and see the text of the dialogue while viewing it. When they click an underlined word or words, they hear the pronunciation and see other derived forms. In separate windows on the left, they get the English meaning together with the explanation needed to clarify the meaning. If learners at any time need to check the meaning of a word, they can click the lesson glossary icon at the lower right side of each card. The glossary includes the new words in each lesson arranged in alphabetical order. This feature of the program is supported by second language acquisition research: Ana Martinez-Lage refers to studies by Marva Barnett, James Davis, and Robert Blake that show that having access to the correct meaning and pronunciation of new words and expressions, through the use of interactive computer programs, helps in vocabulary development and reading fluency (139). We also provided visual assistance (images, charts, signs) during presentation of certain new vocabulary or grammar to clarify meaning and to help students learn and remember words easily (figs. 6 and 7). A number of studies have provided evidence supporting the effective use of visuals in teaching vocabulary. According to Dorothy Chun and Jan Plass, “foreign words associated with actual objects or imagery techniques are learned more easily than words without” (“Effects” 183).
The model-dialogue section contains a wide range of exercises such as those for pronunciation (fig. 8), translation (fig. 9), filling in the blanks (fig. 10), and matching (fig. 11). All these exercises are intended to help students know the content of the model dialogue well and master the newly introduced vocabulary in preparation for the practice exercises and activities sections later on.
The next section provides detailed explanation of the language functions or expressions used in the lesson. Each function is followed by grammatical and cultural explanations and contextualized interactive drill practice (fig. 12). We put special emphasis on identifying and explaining specific language functions, cultural expressions, and complex syntactic features in each lesson to help students organize their learning and practice efficiently and individually in the absence of a teacher or tutor. “The understanding and the doing must be connected; teaching students to understand linguistic rules has not assisted the doing, because the rules do not describe how processing is done,” says Nina Garrett (181–82).
The practice-exercises section gives students the opportunity to review both key vocabulary and language functions covered in the lessons. This review is accomplished through a wide variety of exercises and activities: listening (fig. 13), speaking (fig. 14), reading (fig. 15), translating (fig. 16), and simulated role-playing (fig. 17). They are intended to create interactivity and communication between the learners and the computer to improve oral-aural fluency and accuracy. S. Fujikake and Noriko Aotani write:
TV is the extension of the eyes. A telephone is the extension of the ears. Computer is the extension of the eyes, ears, mouth, and brain. . . . By using computers anywhere, wherever they are, and at any time, as extension of their senses and organs, [students] can access the information they need to learn whatever they want to learn. (53)
The AC program contains multimedia lessons for out-of-class work in the computer laboratory and in-class communicative activities and skit assignments. The use of the laboratory for intensive preparation and practice of model dialogues, language functions, and cultural points builds students’ confidence. Students are motivated to be inventive and to begin creating, in groups of two or three, similar model situations, acting them out in class under the direction of the instructor during the application stage. In class group activities students have the opportunity for collaborative, constructive learning by interaction with their classmates and instructor, exchanging ideas and sharing information needed to complete the task. Computers can be used in the computer lab for presentation, acquisition, and reinforcement of vocabulary, grammar, and the language of discourse functions, while the classroom can be used for “what humans do better, [that is,] authentic oral and written practice.&nsbp;.&nsbp;.&nsbp;. No machine can rival the human instructor in the area of spontaneous interaction or subtlety of comprehension” (Kidd 195; see also Wilson and Tally 19).
One of the benefits of classroom sessions that follow computer laboratory practice was noted by two students in the group debriefing interviews: “We had the opportunity to make friends with our partners while creating skits together in class, and this friendship continued after we completed the course.” Other students reported having the freedom to express their thoughts and feelings and exchange personal questions with one another while creating the skits assigned to them during the classroom session.
The intermediate Arabic for Communication courses meet five hours a week. The syllabus for 203 and 204 consists of a balanced mix of the twenty AC multimedia lessons spread over both semesters and selected readings and listening passages covering such topics as news items, commercials, advertisements, personal and business correspondence, short economic reports, and stories. The students are expected to complete the model-dialogue, language-functions, and practice-exercises sections of one multimedia lesson a week before coming to the two-hour class session on Monday to engage in creating skits. During the next two-hour class session (on Wednesday), they do some of the reading and listening assignments in class under the direction of the instructor. On Friday, they spend the one-hour session reviewing what they covered on Monday and Wednesday, through teacher-led speaking and writing activities.
Language learning requires discipline, time, and constant practice. Our AC multimedia program provides all three and more. It offers a quality source of interactive materials that are flexible enough to be used independently or by instructors in a variety of ways to complement and enrich existing Arabic instructional materials at the intermediate level. This strategy of offering flexible materials fits well with the wide range of goals of today’s students and is supported by modern theorists and educators, who claim that “greater flexibility in education is one strategy for dealing with the increased numbers and diversity of students” (Maier, Barnett, Warren, and Brunner 71).
The AC program makes the study of Arabic relevant to the demands and needs of the new student population by providing them with a rich learning environment and efficient means for practicing their language skills outside the classroom. Thus there is more class time for communicative activities and for skits that cannot be adequately performed without a teacher’s attention and guidance.
The AC program offers students a choice of study modes by providing them with a menu from which they can choose whatever area they want for practice: pronunciation, translation, basic and additional vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and culture study.4 It allows students to work at their own pace and to be in control of their learning. Research in foreign language acquisition has shown that when people are involved in the process of learning a foreign language and use multimedia, they become highly motivated and maintain what they learn and apply it in many more ways than learners do in traditional language classes. “We retain 20% of what we see, 30% of what we hear, 50% of what we see and hear, 80% of what we see, hear, and do” (Maier, Barrett, Warren, and Brunner 85).
The AC program improves pronunciation, listening, and speaking skills by providing learners with opportunities to imitate and record their voice for comparison with that of a native speaker. It offers immediate feedback for each exercise, so students can evaluate their work during each lesson. It motivates students to continue language study and become responsible for their own learning. The combination of video, images, authentic native speakers’ speech, graphics, and cultural notes engenders a deep appreciation of Arabic language, culture, and society.
The AC multimedia program fits well with the University of Michigan’s 1999 plan to revise and expand the Arabic-language curriculum in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, in both tracks described above. The second track (Arabic for Communication) was made possible after the development of appropriate instructional materials when my book Business Arabic: Language, Culture, and Communication was converted into a multimedia environment through a FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Educ.) grant from the United States Department of Education. The new program contributes to the strengthening, effectiveness, and improvement of instruction in the intermediate Arabic for Communication courses and is also used to supplement and enrich the Arabic for Academic Purposes courses. After complete field-testing, it will be transferable to other Arabic language programs in the nation, saving them the time and effort to create their own materials.
We used a variety of evaluation tools, both formative and summative: systematic observation of students during the multimedia lessons; short student-teacher feedback forms at the end of each lesson, to elicit reactions to various aspects of each lesson (see apps. 1 and 2); individual meetings with students after each lesson; group debriefing interviews; videotaping of student skits; standardized tests; a questionnaire, developed in cooperation with the Language Resource Center (LRC) and Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT), to elicit students’ perceptions on those aspects of the learning process that are affected by the multimedia method of instruction and their feelings and beliefs about this new method (see app. 3)5; and oral proficiency interviews (OPIs).
We completed development of the pilot lesson during the pregrant phase, piloted the lesson with eighteen students enrolled in the 1998 summer intensive intermediate Arabic course, and had four instructors of Arabic review the lesson. We then revised the lesson along lines indicated by user testing and evaluation. The students and instructors responded to the pilot lesson positively and provided constructive suggestions and comments regarding specific exercises, font changes, user instructions, and card redesign.
The second phase of testing and evaluation was in fall 1999. The eighteen subjects enrolled in the intermediate Arabic for Communication course were given an orientation session in the computer lab; then they were assigned Macintosh computers and provided with a disk containing multimedia lessons 1–5, a microphone, and headset. They worked on each lesson under the observation of the media staff, course instructor, and project director.
The students interacted with the five complete multimedia lessons four hours a week for five weeks. At the end of the term they were given an eighteen-item questionnaire to fill out. The questionnaire first gave a checklist for the following features: clarity of objectives; content covered; organization; usefulness of exercises in attaining objectives; quality of audio, video, and images; timing of taped portions; cultural and linguistic explanation; and feedback techniques. Then students were asked to select the response that best described the effect of the multimedia on developing their speaking and listening skills and more-general skills, such as problem solving, study and learning methods, ability to organize and use time effectively, and critical thinking. All questionnaire items were scaled from “excellent” to “poor” in the first part and from “a great deal” to “not at all” in the second part (app. 3).
During the winter term of 2000, evaluation data for lessons 1–5, collected from students, instructors, design critique, and an outside evaluator, were compiled and analyzed. All the students who used the multimedia applications in the computer lab continued to attend regular classes for four hours twice a week to do in-class oral activities and to create and act out skits based on situations included in the application section at the end of each lesson.
The third and fourth sets of multimedia lessons, 6–10 and 11–15, underwent the same procedure of testing and evaluation in the intermediate Arabic for Communication courses in the Department of Near Eastern Studies during the academic year 2001–02. The last five lessons, 16–20, were completed by the middle of August 2003 and tested in the Arabic 203 course during fall 2003.
The complete package of four CD-ROMs and user’s manual was mailed that August to six evaluators in cooperating Arabic programs for their comments and feedback. We revised all the lessons on the basis of the comments we received and prepared a new multimedia AC package for more field-testing with students in intermediate Arabic classes throughout the nation. We are now in the process of converting this revised package into a Web-based environment.
The following results are based on analysis of the verbal and written comments made by the seventy-four subjects and four instructors who tested the multimedia lessons in the Arabic for Communication course as well as the two media consultants from the LRC who observed the subjects while working on the applications and conducted individual and group interviews with them.
An oral proficiency interview was administered by the project director, as a pretest in September 2002 and as a posttest in April 2003, to the sixteen students who had enrolled in the intermediate Arabic for Communication courses and who completed the whole AC program. The OPI covered the material studied in courses 203 and 204. Examinees met with the examiner one at a time to answer questions related to the course material and questions related to their personal lives. Comparison between the pretest and posttest performance of students revealed significant improvement in the quantity, quality and accuracy of their oral production as well as positive changes in their attitudes (fig. 18).
The following quotes, collected from the subjects during the follow-up individual and debriefing group meetings or from their written comments in evaluation forms, show their satisfaction with and enthusiasm for the multimedia interactive lessons:
“[The multimedia applications] improved my conversational skills through listening and responding to real-to-life faces on screen. I felt like I was talking to real Arab men and women from different Arab countries and backgrounds.”
“The applications gave me the opportunity to work slowly and carefully without outside pressures and without feeling the need to be testing myself and getting the answer right away.”
“I learned a lot of useful functional and cultural Arabic expressions that I can use in everyday situations, for example: ahlan wa-sahlan, ma‘a ssalāmah, mabrūk, in shā’ Allāh.
“I feel like I am in Riyadh interacting with real people at the airport, hotel, post office, etc.”
“Use of visuals and native-speaker talents throughout the program exposed me to the use and meaning of hand gestures, tone of voice, and facial expressions.”
“We learned grammar through clear explanation of the meaning of functional linguistic features and repeated exposure to them in the contexts of social interactions.”
Conducting formative evaluations with students and instructors in the courses 203 and 204 as well as with design teams and internal and external project consultants and evaluators has contributed greatly to the improvement of the multimedia lessons. We were able to increase the amount of matching and multiple-choice exercises to help students learn new vocabulary. We added more images and short video exchanges to illustrate language functions and cultural information and expanded some of the exercises to incorporate a variety of situational dialogues similar to the model dialogue. We added clear instructions on each card, more exercises requiring English-to-Arabic translation, and a student tracking feature. We provided a longer time interval for student recordings of model audio utterances and added a multimedia atlas of Arab countries to serve as a reference for general information.6 We minimized the amount of information displayed on the screen, improved the arrangement of information, and introduced the same type and size of Arabic font throughout the lessons.
Developing a well-designed multimedia software for Arabic instruction is an exciting and intriguing task but one that comes with serious challenges. I summarize here both the benefits and challenges.
The AC program offers students a more satisfactory and efficient means for practicing their language skills (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation) out of the classroom through meaningful drill practice, thus saving class time for communicative activities that cannot be evaluated by the computer. It provides students with the flexibility to choose the areas and exercises they want to study and practice, as well as with hints and advice to guide them to the correct answers. It allows them to be in full control of their learning and to perform many different functions (open stacks, move forward or backward, jump, dial telephone, play sound, listen, record, compare with model, etc.) in a rich and relaxing learning environment. It provides features of interaction that humanize the learning process and thus increase student motivation and participation. It keeps a record of student performance while working on each lesson, showing which sections and exercises the students worked on and the difficulties they encountered. It provides learners with the training they need to become more confident about expressing themselves in Arabic and more motivated to continue Arabic study. It provides nontraditional students and working adults with self-study opportunities.
Retention in courses 203 and 204, where the multimedia lessons were tested, was 100% in the academic year 1999–2000, 92% in 2000–01, 95% in 2001–03, and 83% in 2003–04.7
To produce multimedia materials, such as video and audio segments, images, maps, and texts, and assemble them as a software product is time-consuming. Multimedia use imposes high development costs. The final AC package—the four CD-ROMs and users’ manual—costs over $200,000. There are technical problems, such as an occasional version upgrade of the Arabic word processor or a change in the Macintosh operating system, which can be frustrating for programmers, research assistants, and students. Skilled instructional technology personnel are needed to program and assemble the various media components in each lesson into a coherent computer application. Finally, multimedia use requires a significant investment in workstations, hardware, software, management, maintenance, and license rights.
The question of which software to use for design of the application—a Windows or Mac operating system, a Web-based or stand-alone system—should be addressed before the production process begins. Our choice of the Macintosh-based Gemini authoring software, for example, meant limited use of the final AC multimedia package in places where Mac OS 9.2.2, either as a primary operating system or a classic environment with the Arabic language kit installed, is available.8 We are currently replicating functionality of the AC program, originally created with the Gemini application, in a Web-based flash environment.
The complexities involved in the design of interactive multimedia material, added to the high development costs, require funding from federal sources, local institutions, and companies to support cooperative projects undertaken by pedagogical specialists, language teachers, software authors, cognitive scientists, and instructional technology programmers. These partnerships can share the work of creating, testing, and supporting multimedia materials and encouraging other institutions to use them at a reasonable cost.
Teacher-training programs in foreign language departments should include a unit on the use of technology and modern media in foreign language instruction. Geoffrey Hope, Heimy Taylor, and James Pusack provide, at the end of their book Using Computers in Teaching Foreign Languages, a useful annotated bibliography on the use of media in foreign language teaching (91–125). Another valuable source is Mark Johnson’s Sellout (see also Waltje).
Effective use of technology in foreign language instruction should be based on sound pedagogical principles and fully integrated into the curriculum, as advocated by Robert Ariew and others. The newly developed multimedia Arabic lessons have proved effective at the University of Michigan because we fully integrate them into the syllabus of our Arabic for Communication courses to complement the other aspects of reading and writing.
Finally, administrators in academic institutions should recognize the value and importance of applied classroom research, including instructional innovation. The degree of commitment and genuine support that department heads and administrators provide for tenured faculty members and lecturers involved in research on second language learning and teaching will determine the quality and future of research that focuses on integration of technology into foreign language instruction. Very few language teachers will be motivated to participate in computer-mediated language programs as long as administrative recognition of such time-consuming efforts are lacking.
The author is Professor of Arabic and applied linguistics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
The author is deeply grateful to USDE (FIPSE Program) for their generous grant and also to the following University of Michigan units for providing supplemental grants and/or assistance during development of the AC program: Language Resource Center, Center for Advanced Research and Technology, Center for International Business Education, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, Department of Near Eastern Studies, and College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Special thanks go to the UM Language Resource Center director Monika Dressler and her terrific staff of media design and instructional technology production for their untiring efforts and support during the design and development of the pilot project and subsequent applications, and to Waheed Samy for his patient hard work over the five years of program development and for taking part in recording and videotaping. The author also thanks Ernest McCarus, Edna Coffin, and Mahdi Alosh for their careful reading and commenting on the multimedia lessons, as well as all students, teachers, evaluators, and administrators who have assisted in the recording, videotaping, and field-testing of the Arabic Multimedia program. Special thanks to my two able research assistants, Philip Khoury and Amro Stino.
1. According to a survey conducted in the Department of Near Eastern Studies of the University of Michigan between 2001 and 2004, enrollment in Arabic language and culture classes increased by more than 30%. The results also show that 32% of 113 respondents expressed a desire to study Arabic for communication and career purposes.
2. This authoring package was called Libra when we started development of the Arabic Multimedia Program in 1999.
3. The tracking mechanism feature was dropped because not many students or instructors made use of it beyond the pilot lesson phase.
4. This rich choice of ways to study and practice language is made possible only through instructional technology. All students need do is log in and follow the instructions.
5. The author is grateful to James Kulick, director of the university’s Office of Examinations and Evaluations, for his assistance in preparing the electronic questionnaire and generating computer-based statistical analyses of students’ responses.
6. This project is now completed and needs field-testing before we add it to the AC package.
7. The percentage dropped to 83% because two out of the fourteen students in class graduated.
8. The latest version of the four-CD-ROM Arabic for Communication Interactive Multimedia Program runs on PowerPC G3 or a faster Macintosh computer, at least 128 MB of physical RAM, OS 9.2.2 either as a primary operating system or a classic environment, with the Arabic language kit installed. One of the CD-ROMs is available from the University of Michigan Language Resource Center for more field-testing. Arabic instructors who have the computer equipment described above and wish to use the AC program can contact the author for a sample CD by e-mail at raram@umich.edu. We expect the Web-based version to be available early fall 2006.
Ariew, Robert. “Integrating Video and CALL in the Curriculum: The Role of the ACTFL Guidelines.” Smith 41–66.
Barnett, Marva A. More Than Meets the Eye: Foreign Language Reading: Theory and Practice. Washington: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1989.
Blake, Robert J. “Second-Language Reading on the Computer.” ADFL Bulletin 24.1 (1992): 17–22. [Show Article]
Burston, Jack. “The Role of Instructional Technology in Foreign Language Teaching: State of the Art and Future Directions.” IALLT Journal 35.2 (2003): 17–29.
Chun, Dorothy M., and Jan L. Plass. “Effects of Multimedia Annotation on Vocabulary Acquisition.” Modern Language Journal 80 (1996): 183–98.
———. “Networked Multimedia Environments for Second Language Acquisition.” Network-Based Language Teaching: Concepts and Practice. Ed. M. Warschaver and R. Kern. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000. 151–70.
Davis, James. “Facilitating Effects of Marginal Glosses on Foreign Language Reading.” Modern Language Journal 73 (1989): 41–48.
Fujikake, S., and Noriko Aotani. “A Concept and Format of Multimedia Integrated Learning Environment.” Lindell 51–62.
Garrett, Nina. “A Psycholinguistic Perspective on Grammar and CALL.” Smith 169–96.
Hiple, David V. “A Progress Report on the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, 1982–1986.” Defining and Developing Proficiency: Guidelines, Implementations, and Concepts. Ed. Heidi Byrnes and Michael Canale. Lincolnwood: Natl. Textbook, 1987. 16.
Hope, Geoffrey R., Heimy F. Taylor, and James P. Pusack. Using Computers in Teaching Foreign Languages. New York: Hancourt, 1984.
Johnson, Mark. Sellout: A Resource for PhDs Considering Careers beyond the University. 2005. 18 Aug. 2005 http://www.ironstring.com/sellout/.
Kidd, Marilyn E. “Obstacles to the Implementation of CALL to the Curriculum.” Lindell 187–98.
Lindell, Peter, ed. Foreign Language Education and Teaching: Proceedings of the Third Conference. Victoria: U of Victoria: Lang. Center, 1997.
Maier, P., L. Barnett, A. Warren, and D. Brunner. Using Technology in Teaching and Learning. London: Kogan, 1996.
Martinez-Lage, Ana. “Hypermedia Technology for Teaching Reading.” Technology-Enhanced Language Learning. Ed. Michael D. Bush and R. M. Terry. Lincolnwood: Natl. Textbook, 1997. 121–63.
Mitchell, T. F. “Educated Spoken Arabic: What, Why, How?” Proceedings of the Leeds University Workshop, July 1990. Ed. Dionisius A. Agius and Avihai Shivtiel. Leeds: U of Leeds P, 1992. 7–15.
Olsen, Solveig. “Foreign Language Department and Computer-Assisted Instruction: A Survey.” Modern Language Journal 64 (1980): 341–49.
Patrikis, Peter C. “Where Is Computer Technology Taking Us?” ADFL Bulletin 26.2 (1995): 36–39. [Show Article]
Rammuny, Raji. Business Arabic: Language, Culture, and Communication. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 2000.
Smith, W. Flint, ed. Modern Media in Foreign Language Education: Theory and Implementation. Lincolnwood: Natl. Textbook, 1987.
Underwood, John H. Linguistics, Computers, and the Language Teachers: A Communicative Approach. Rowley: Newbury, 1984.
Waltje, Jorg. “Preparing Future Professors: A More Integrated Approach to Graduate Training.” IALLT Journal 36.1 (2004): 19–40.
Wilson, K., and W. Tally. Designing for Discovery: Interactive Multimedia Learning Environments at Bank Street College. New York: Center Technology in Educ., 1991.
Today’s date: __________
Lesson number: __________
Please respond honestly to the questions below by circling the responses with which you agree and writing brief comments (1 = lowest, 5 = highest).
1. On the scale below, please rate the clarity of today’s application:
1 2 3 4 5
2. Overall, how interesting did you find today’s application?
1 2 3 4 5
3. Overall, how useful was today’s application in helping you learn the content?
1 2 3 4 5
4. What did you find most helpful in today’s application? Please give one or two examples.
5. What did you find least helpful?
6. How could the lesson be improved? Please give one or two suggestions.
Today’s date: __________
Lesson number: __________
1. Your opinion on the goals of today’s application.
( ) excellent
( ) above average
( ) average
( ) below average
( ) no opinion
2. Were the goals met through the application?
( ) yes – very much so
( ) yes – but with reservations
( ) no – but with reservations
( ) no – very much so
( ) no opinion
3. What was the best thing about the application?
4. What were the worst things about the application?
5. What do you suggest should be done differently?
6. Do you think multimedia are effective ways to teach this application’s content?
( ) strongly agree
( ) agree
( ) neutral
( ) disagree
( ) strongly disagree
7. Has this multimedia method changed your teaching approach?
This questionnaire asks you to evaluate the Arabic multimedia applications available for your use at the Language Resource Center. Read the questions carefully and mark your answers by filling in the appropriate circles.
PART I. Please evaluate the following features of the applications. |
||||||
| Excellent | Very good | Good | Fair | Poor | ||
| A | Clarity of objectives | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| B | Content covered | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| C | Organization of the material | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| D | Usefulness of exercises in attaining objectives | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| E | Audio, video, and images used in each application | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| F | Timing of taped portions | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| G | Cultural explanations and illustrative examples | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| H | Feedback on performance | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
PART II. For each item, select the response that best describes the effect of the applications on students. |
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| The applications — | A great deal | Quite a bit | Somewhat | A little | Not at all | |
| A | motivated students to continue Arabic study | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| B | developed students’ problem-solving skills | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| C | improved students’ speaking skills | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| D | improved students’ listening skills | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| E | improved students’ study and learning skills | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| F | improved self-confidence | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| G | developed a commitment to personal achievement | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| H | created a sense of responsibility for students’ own learning | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| I | improved students’ ability to organize and use time effectively | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| J | developed students’ ability to think creatively | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) | ( ) |
| Fig. 1 Reasons for Arabic Study |
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| Fig. 2 Arabic for Communication Window |
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| Fig. 3 The Main Menu Screen |
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| Fig. 4 Model Dialogue Opening Screen (Lesson Objectives) |
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| Fig. 5 Model Dialogue |
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| Fig. 6 Airport Vocabulary Presentation |
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| Fig. 7 Active and Passive Participles Presentation |
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| Fig. 8 Recording Pronunciation |
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| Fig. 9 Translation |
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| Fig. 10 Fill in the Blanks |
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| Fig. 11 Matching |
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| Fig. 12 Listening Comprehension Exercise |
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| Fig. 13 Expressing Wish or Hope |
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| Fig. 14 Giving Directions |
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| Fig. 15 Reading |
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| Fig. 16 Translating |
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| Fig. 17 Role-Playing |
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| Fig. 18 Student Pretest and Posttest Performance: Results of AC Program, 2002–03 |
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© 2005 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.
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