Spring 2000

This course will familiarize students with the multiple uses of e-mail, Web-enhanced instruction, synchronous and asynchronous communication, language learning software and text analysis computing tools. The focus is on the practical applications of the newest technologies to foreign and second language teaching and learning.

Class will follow a PowerPoint lecture/seminar/discussion/workshop format. All students are expected to participate in face-to-face (F2F) and online discussions and activities. Attendance is strongly encouraged. It is strongly suggested that students get phone numbers and e-mail addresses from at least two people in class.

Corpus Linguistics. Douglas Biber, Susan Conrad & Randi Reppen. Cambridge University Press, 1998.

New Ways of Using Computers in Language Teaching. Tim Boswood, Editor. TESOL Series, 1997.

COURSE SCHEDULE This schedule is subject to change. All Web documents are always under construction. Changes to the course schedule or in assignments will be announced in class. If you need to reach me, mailto:cassandra8@home.com or ssotillo@hotmail.com
DAY/DATE	TOPIC	ASSIGNMENT
Wednesday, January 19, 2000	Introduction to CALI or CALL. Theory and practice. Review of basic terminology.	Create an e-mail account and distribution list. Download mIRC Read two chapters from The Power of Call (Pennington, Ed., 1995).
January 26th	Instructions for logging sessions (mIRC). Theoretical foundations of CMC. Using technology to teach reading, writing, speech and listening skills in foreign and second language classrooms.	mIRC demonstration. Salaberry's article from CALICO (1996), pp. 5-34. Read Warschauer's 1997 article (Modern Language Journal). Classroom presentations and discussion.
February 2nd	Continuation of mIRC discussion. Second demonstration of synchronous communication. F2F discussion of articles focusing on the use of technology in foreign and second language teaching.	mIRC problem solving assignment to be posted on the Web. Please set aside a specific time to chat on either Saturday or Sunday evening. Read New Ways...pp.5-34.
February 9th	Grammaticality judgment test on Dative Alternation. mIRC assignment due. Explain how you inferred the rules for using these specific English verbs.	Assignment #1: Select three recent articles (1998-1999) and make sure at least one is from a traditional print journal and at least two from an online journal. Synthesize and analyze each article. Assignment #1 due February 16th. Post summaries and analyses to the discussion forum. Read Corpus Linguistics, pp. 1-18; 21-54.
February 16th	Let's chat in cyberspace on Sundays at 9:30 p.m. via mIRC. Cyberchat theme: Teaching writing and focusing on both form and meaning.	Assignment #2: Analyze cyberdiscourse using TACT. Please go to Mike's website or to the Toronto site to download the program.
February 23rd	Current issues in Web-enhanced instruction. Modalities of CMC. Setting up language learning partnerships.	Join one of the following groups: TESL-L (listserv@cunyvm.cuny.edu) Message: sub TESL-L [Firstname Lastname] or NETEACH-L (listserv@thecity.sfsu.edu) Message: subscribe [Firstname Lastname]
March 1st	Analysis of electronic data: lexicon and grammar. Read critical discourse analysis articles (CDA).	Discussion of TACT assignments. Learning to analyze electronic texts. How to create gix files. Inferring socioeconomic status and gender from lexicon and syntactic constructions. This assignment is due March 15th. Read Corpus Linguistics, pp. 55-83 and CDA articles.
March 5-11 Spring Break
March 15th	TACT assignment due. Exam #1: Choose one of the following projects. Save your data to a disk. Prepare a research report following the APA guidelines. Clearly state your research questions/hypotheses. Be sure to include at least five scholarly articles in your bibliography. Photocopy and include the first page of each article selected.	Do one of the following: (1) Using TACT, analyze the lexicon and grammatical structures in L2 learner output. (Go to ESL database) OR (2) Continue to analyze syntactic patterns, lexicon, and gender participation patterns in working-class electronic database. You must select an additional thread discussion. (Read Corpus, pp. 106-131.) OR (3) Prepare a PowerPoint presentation summarizing various approaches to teaching writing, grammar, and speech/listening comprehension using CDRoms, the Web, or some other malleable technology. Your PP presentation must include at least 10 useful links that can be accessed by teachers in training.
March 22nd	University Day. No Classes.	Continue to work on your exam.
March 29th -- We will meet from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.	Start thinking about your independent project. Go through some of the teaching suggestions/practices in New Ways of Using Computers in Language Teaching that maximize the potential of computer software packages and other tools to help second language learners.	Exam #1 due. Read New Ways...pp. 131-197. Class discussion in DI280 from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m. Long distance education presentation by John O'Brien in CO123, 7:30-8:30 p.m. Assignment #3: Prepare a two-page summary and analysis of major topics being discussed in one of the mailing lists you have joined. Cut and paste relevant examples from the discussions. Due: April 5th.
April 5th	Web-page making workshop. Please bring floppy disk. Prepare a simple Web page for your ESL students. Philosophical and political implications of our evolving cyberculture.	Read Sardar's al.civilizations.faq, pp. 14-41. Cyberfutures, NYU Press, 1996. You may want to join the Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture: listserv@listserv.kent.edu.
April 12th	Student presentations: PowerPoint, Web-based or via mIRC.	Download NetMeeting. . Install it on your home computers.
April 19th	Creating Web pages for second language learners. Developing interactive lesson plans/lessons and quizzes. Subscribe to EduCause.	Reread New Ways... pp.139-154.
April 26th	Analyzing register variation and English for specific purposes.	Read Corpus Linguistics, pp.135-171.
May 3rd	Looking ahead: computers and distance education. Assignment#4: Search for lexico-grammatical patterns in cyberchat data. Online exam based on readings.	Read Corpus Linguistics, pp. 233-287. New Ways... pp.253-275.
May 10th	Independent project due.	Include bibliography and relevant attachments.

You will have numerous opportunities to display your knowledge and newly acquired computer skills. Grades will be calculated as follows: participation in classroom and online discussions, 15%; assignments, 25%; examinations, 30%; independent project, 30%.

1. Look for patterns in the development of second language lexicon and grammars using TACT. Do a longitudinal analysis of L2 learners' output. Select output for six learners. Look for frequencies (content words, modals, phrases), collocations, key words in context concordance lists, grammatical structures. (See examples from Corpus Linguistics, pp. 26-34; 172-202; 238-241.)

2. Analyze the electronic discourse of working-class towns and compare it with the discourse of middle/upper-middle class towns. Look for patterns of language use (e.g., argument structure, nominalizations, infinitives, prediction modals, that-clauses). Read Corpus Linguistics, pp. 135-171.

3. Create an electronic database using data collected from ESL Weekend College students (call Lenore Rosenbluth at 655-7908). Develop Web-based questionnaires to collect specific cultural and linguistic data on L2 learners. You may need to register for some of the IT training sessions on campus. Go to the Microsoft Web pages for more information. You can use Front Page to create online surveys and quizzes. Develop a questionnaire to collect before and after treatment data on the impact of technology on ESL learning.

4. Build your own Text Corpora to encourage vocabulary development and the acquisition of idiomatic expressions. You don't have to limit yourself to English. Experiment with French/German/Spanish.

5. Use Toolbook or other appropriate authoring tool to create lesson plans and one interactive lesson in English or another language. For example, teach learners how to perform specific speech acts in culturally appropriate ways: compliments and complaints.

6. Design an experiment to measure fluency and complexity in the acquisition of a second language (English, French, or German) via two different CMC modalities: asynchronous and synchronous discussions. You will need to randomly assign students to control and experimental groups. Follow the APA guidelines.

7. Compare and evaluate two different types of software for language learning in an ESL classroom. You should plan ahead for this activity and call MSU's ESL Coordinator, Lenore Rosenbluth, at 655-7908. Outline your lesson plans and prepare flowcharts as you design and implement your project.

8. Create audiofiles to help ESL teachers analyze learners' pronunciation errors. Use student speech samples. Compare speakers of native varieties of English with advanced L2 learners. Recordings must be of excellent quality to produce quality audiofiles. Explain how pronunciation rules work from sample data of native speakers of standard varieties of English. You may want to concentrate on teaching suprasegmentals of pronunciation. Refer to New Ways of Using Computers, pp. 238-249.

9. Investigate gender differences in CMC. Inspect our MSU mailing lists or asynchronous discussion groups where male and female faculty members exchange information on teaching and technology. Look for patterns of language use. Research the extant literature on gender in cyberspace.

You will be asked to complete a research project. Please use the APA publication manual (1994 or later edition) and follow the guidelines for scientific writing. Though it is often unintentional, plagiarism is a serious offense. The most common type of plagiarism involves appropriating an author's words in a research article. To avoid plagiarism, please read the research literature carefully, keep notes and summaries in your own words, and refrain from paraphrasing someone else's words.