This project was conducted in spring semester, 2001 in the first year Japanese language course (Elementary Japanese II) at Carnegie Mellon University. Five sections of the class, each with separate teachers, were involved. The course follows a proficiency-based approach, focusing on overall Japanese language skills. Classes met 50minutes a day, 4 days a week, and were each taught by the same teacher throughout the semester.
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a technologically advanced university, which encourages technology enhanced teaching and learning environments.
To improve the teaching and learning environment at CMU through the use of technology, the Office of Technology for Education (OTE) has provided the Carnegie Mellon community access to Blackboard. OTE also provides various workshops on how to use Blackboard for educational purposes. Exciting as this story may seem, however, as a Japanese language teacher, it was a different story. Blackboard was not developed to handle character-based languages such as Japanese. And none of the university technical staff members knows much about issues involved in such language support.
WebCT is also available for courses at Department of Modern Languages. Until recently, it enabled us to use Japanese for selected functions such as b-boards. However, that option was terminated when WebCT upgraded their version. What I created within WebCT turned to unreadable garbage. Our technical assistant reported this problem to WebCT, but he has not yet received a reply.
We had easy access to these two great authoring software packages, which could extend our teaching and learning activities but were not able to use them due to the language problems. Unfortunately, we had to limit our use of technology to the course homepage and email communication.
Solution
One day at a regular teachers' meeting, we discussed how we could incorporate some technology-enhanced activities into our course. Email, online chat and b-boards were possible candidates. However, the use of Japanese language was the main concern. We also wanted to do something which did not change our current curriculum nor increase both teachers' and students' workload too much. A great idea was developed during the discussion.
We decided to conduct Learning about Language Learning (LaLL) assignment via the university b-board system which all of the CMU students have access to. LaLL is a series of sessions introduced in all of the elementary level language courses at our Department. The main purpose of these sessions is to raise students' awareness on language learning strategies for providing them fundamental basis to be a good language learner.
Although the LaLL committee members at the Department have prepared useful teaching materials, each language teaching team was responsible for integrating LaLL related classes and assignments into everyday curriculum. LaLL activities and assignments tended to be somewhat difficult to conduct in our curriculum as they could be regarded as irrelevant to learning Japanese unless instruction and implementation were conducted well. The Elementary Japanese team had been searching for a way that our students could find LaLL activities to be useful and effective for a long time now.
As an assignment for the second semester, students had to keep a bi-weekly journal (in English!) of their language learning experiences with a record of the goals, problems, and successes that students have as language learners. It was this assignment that we decided to conduct as our first interactive on-line project that could be done without the language limitation problem.
It was hoped that the LaLL b-board project would have many benefits over the traditional paper-and-pencil journal. Such benefits include audience, interactivity, collaboration, authenticity and motivation.
(1) audience
Readers of the journal are no longer exclusively students' teacher, but all the teachers and classmates across the sections. It may sound a little intimidating but also thrilling.
(2) interactivity
Students are able to interact with many classmates outside class as much as they would like. Although such interaction is done in English, it is still valuable in developing human bond among participants in EJ II community. Communicating with classmates who do not meet in class can simulate E-pal project. It is like virtual e-pal project within the university.
(3) collaboration
As adult learners, students can start collaborating with one another via b-board communication to be a better Japanese learner.
(4) authenticity
For CMU students, email communication is a very important means in their academic and personal lives. The use of a university b-board, which could be done within the university email system, was very accessible and convenient means for all the students, unlike Blackboard or WebCT which students have to log in separately to check their b-board within the system.
(5) motivation
What was stated above in (1) ~ (4) could motivate students to keep their journals more than just writing to themselves.
B-board Setting
First of all, we set up the Elementary Japanese II b-board space within the university b-board system. A handout was provided for students explaining how to subscribe the EJ II -board, and necessary information regarding this project was also given.
Grouping
In order to develop the interactivity and create the intended audience, we divided the five class sections into two groups (A & B). (e.g., Group A: section 1, 2, 3. Group B: section 4 , 5). We tried to make the number of students similar between the two groups. Then, we assigned each group turns a time to post messages and to reply to others (Table 1). As you can see, each group posted the messages three times, and replied to others' messages three times. Students were allowed to participate more than as scheduled if they like.
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| Week | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
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| Post messages | A | B | A | B | A | B |
| Reply to others | B | A | B | A | B | A |
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Instructions
In week 2, 6, and 10, we posted specific instructions regarding what students should include in their postings.
[Posting 1: Initial Reflection]
What are your goals for your language study this semester? What are your long-term goals? Discuss your language learning difficulties. Do you have any particular difficulties with speaking, listening, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, and culture? How can you resolve these difficulties? What steps are you going to take to improve your learning?
[Posting 2: Mid-term Reflection]
Discuss what strategies you tried implementing since the first posting and how effective these strategies have been. How has your language learning changed since the beginning of the semester? Have you modified your goals? If yes, have the b-board and in-class discussion affected the change?
[Posting 3: Final Reflection]
Discuss how your language learning or study strategies have changed over the course of the semester, and what effect have the changes had on your learning. Have things found on the b-board influenced your language learning habit? What have you found to be the most effective ways to study Japanese this semester?
Extract of titles of students' postings (Posting 1 #1 ~ 30: Week 2)
#1 Japanese Interface
#2 Re: Japanese Interface
#3 Kanji Difficulties
#4 Problems with Listening
#5 The Fun & Excitement of Language Learning!
#6 Interactive Learner
#7 Bob desﾉ. Not Bob san
#8 Mina-san ohayo gozaimasu!
#9 Language Learning Strategies
#10 Re: Kanji Difficulties
#11 Re: Japanese Interface
#12 I can't remember all the grammar rulesﾉ
#13 Kanji and Speaking Troubles
#14 Re: Mina-san ohayo gozaimasu!
#15 Re: Kanji Difficulties
#16 Re: The Fun & Excitement of Language Learning!
#17 Re: Problems with Listening
#18 Re: Kanji Difficulties
#19 Re: Problems with Listening
#20 Re: Japanese Interface? And thinking itﾉ
#21 Re: Japanese Interface?
#22 Re: Japanese Interface? Bilingual children
#23 Language learning experience!
#24 kanji & neat handwriting
#25 Language Learning - Visual to audio?
#26 Re: I can't remember all the grammar rulesﾉ
#27 (No title)
#28 Re: Language Learning - Visual to audio?
#29 Language Learning
#30 Japanese learning difficulties
Reflection
As you can see from the titles above, students initiated b-board discussion on various topics without teachers' explicit instructions and guidance. It was exclusively student-centered discussion opportunity on how they are learning Japanese. They exchanged their experiences and thoughts quite frankly with classmates who they knew or did not know via b-board. They helped each other by sharing information on learning resources, learning strategies that worked, and solving technical problems such as doing online chat and typing in Japanese and so on.
Successful Stories
1. Finding out the facts
Students expressed their honest feelings that cannot be revealed in class or with the teacher. Such information was very useful for teachers to grasp each student's problems and it was used effectively classroom instruction and individual conferences.
[E.g., # 86 formal/informal conjugation problem]2. Exploring Japanese learning strategies for CMU students
Everyday, I sit in a confused and dazed stupor, repeating to myself "sensei wa, nani o hanashiteimasu ka" (but in english of course). Conjugation forms swirl around my head as my mouth gapes open devoid of any sound. Sensei wa, "Chan san, kore wa, wakarimasu ka?" to iimasu. "iie!!!", I say! Demo, I do. Its just that a big, guey, conjugational mass of verbs, adjectives and nouns is stuck midway between my brain and my tongueﾉﾉ.
Minasan donna adovisu ga arimasu ka.
Chan san
[E.g., #54 Re: I can't remember all the grammar rulesﾉ..] I think that the tables are very helpful!!! I make them for conjugation plus structures. Often times the structures (grammar structures I mean) share similarities and putting them in the tables helps.3. Affective effects
[E.g., #97 Re: Japanese Listening "You are not alone"]
Dear ﾉ san.
Don't worry my friend. You are not alone. I have the same difficulties. Because of these difficulties I have been asking for help and have received some helpful adviceﾉ
I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck.
Smith des
What needs to be reconsidered for next year
Problem 1: Quality and quantity of the postings varied.
Problem 2: Some students did not understand the objectives of this assignment.
Problem 3: Questions about teachers' participation - to what extent we should encourage learner-centered discussion, and when do teachers need to participate in it.
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