Videoconference for Japanese Language and Culture Curriculum

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Videoconference for Japanese Language and Culture
Curriculum

• Akemi Morioka
• In collaboration with Judi Franz
• University of California, Irvine

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Overview of the Presentation

• Background
• Pedagogical Groundings
• Practice of Videoconferencing (Fall2002-Spring2008
  )
• Survey in Spring 2008
• Integration into Curriculum in Fall 2008
• Content
• Assessment and Grades
• Findings from the Survey Observations
• Discussion

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Background

• How can we language instructors provide students
  with?
• First-hand information on culture
• Opportunity for authentic communication
• How can we help students?
• Build a community of learners
• Become autonomous learners
• Be motivated
• One of the solutionsvideoconference???

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Pedagogical Groundings

• The role of CALL in sociocognitive frameworks is
  to provide alternative contexts for social
  interaction and to facilitate access existing
  discourse communities and the creation of new
  ones (Kern Warschauer, 2000).
• Computer-assisted classroom discussion, compared
  to face-to-face discussion, has been shown to
  feature more equal and democratic participation
  (Warschauer, 1997).

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Mechanics of Videoconferencing

• Participants on Japan side students who are
  enrolled in Shimizu-senseis English class
• Fall 2002- Winter 2003 with Namerikawa High
  School in Toyama Prefecture
• Spring 2003- Winter 2009 with Toyama College of
  Foreign Languages
• Spring 2009- Present with Toyama National
  College of Maritime Technology
• Number of participants ranged between 20 and 33
• Participants at UCI
• Students who are enrolled in 1st-Year through
  4th year Japanese classes, but primarily 2nd-Year
  students (voluntary participation for extra
  credit)
• Number of participants ranged between 20 and 35

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Mechanics of Videoconferencing
Thursday 500pm (Daylight Savings Time)
Friday 900 am (No Time Change)
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Mechanics of Videoconferencing (continued)

• Where?
• Both take place at a language lab

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Mechanics of Videoconferencing (continued)

• How?
• Use Skype for individual interaction
• iMacs using built-in iSight cameras in Irvine
• PCs running Windows XP and external web cams in
  Toyama
• Both sides make 25-30 generic accounts. E.g.
  uci01-- tcfl01
• Matching is random.
• Additional interaction via online message board

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One-on-one communication (Japan side)
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Mechanics of Videoconferencing (continued)

• How?
• Use Polycom for group discussion

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Group discussion at UCI
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Group Discussion through PolyCom
Screen shot of the U.S. side viewed in Japan
The U.S. side
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Content of the Discussion

• Teaching Materials (Spring 2002-Spring 2008)
• Materials/activities were developed basically by
  Shimizu-sensei based on his curriculum.
• Sample Activities New Years traditions, a new
  school year in Japan, education system, how to
  treat others, blood type
• It was uploaded on individual computers for the
  students, which included links to graphics and
  short movies.
• The same content on a hard copy was provided for
  group discussion.
• The activities required the students not only to
  seek information but also to express ones own
  opinion on the topic.

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Content of the Discussion (continued)

• Languages
• The Japanese learners at UCI spoke mostly in
  Japanese, and the English learners in Japan spoke
  mostly in English. However, frequent
  code-switching between Japanese and English was
  observed.

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Student Survey (Spring 2008) Results Q1Was the
topic appropriate? Q2Was the material on the web
useful?
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Student Survey (Spring 2008) Results
Q3Did you like the one-on-one communication?
Q4Did you like the group
discussion?
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Student Survey (Spring 2008) Results
Q7 Your Japanese enhanced? Q8 Your
understanding of J culture
enhanced?
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Student Survey (Spring 2008) ResultsComments

• Split opinion on one-on-one conversation vs.
  group discussion
• I feel more comfortable when I speak one-on- one.
• Group discussion is much easier to communicate
  through, while it is more difficult with
  one-on-one.
• Handout makes communication hard because it
  becomes more like reading and less like a real
  conversation.
• I was able to help them with their English, while
  they helped me with my Japanese. It allowed
  practice with Japanese that I knew, and also it
  exposed me to many new words and kanji symbols
  for the first time.
• Having a Japanese student help you practice
  reading, and even asking questions or having a
  conversation with was a great experience
  culturally and personally.
• Complaints about connection difficulty

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ExperimentIntegration to Curriculum

• In Fall 2008, JVC was integrated into the 2nd-
  Year Japanese curriculum for the 500 pm section
  only.
• 4 sections of 2nd Year Japanese were offered
  in Fall 2008.
• Met 5 days (50 minutes each day) a week.
• 4 sections were taught by three different
  instructors.
• All 4 sections used the same textbook
  (Chapters 1-3 in
• Yookoso! Vol 2) and took the
  same midterm and final exams.
• Concern expressed by the instructor
• Can I really afford to spend on the entire class
  time (50 minutes) on JVC every Thursday?
• How can I include the JVC activity in the
  assessment of the students during and at the end
  of the term?

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ExperimentIntegration to Curriculum (continued)

• Teaching materials used for these meetings were
  developed by the Japanese instructor at UCI based
  on the topic covered in the textbook.
• Since there were only 24 students on the Japan
  side, as opposed to 28 here at UCI, 24 students
  spoke one-on-one through Skype on the desk top
  computer, and the rest participated in a group
  discussion seated in front of a TV.

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One-to-one communication (U.S. side)
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Content of the Discussion

• Material
• Prepared by the instructor at UCI based on her
  teaching curriculum.
• Over-arching Theme Journey/Travel
• Topic 1 Images of Japan, Nature and Geography
• Topic 2 Things to do in Japan
• Topic 3 Staying in Japan -Living Accommodations
• Topic 4 Cultural Difference Enryo -
  hesitation/reservation due to consideration for
  others
• Topic 5 President Obama
• Language
• UCI students used Japanese and Japanese students
  in Japan used English a majority of the time.
  (They code-switched quite often as well.)

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Assessment and Grades()
Midterm Exam Final Exam
Listening (multiple choice Qs) Reading (multiple choice Qs) Speaking (instructors evaluation) Writing (instructors evaluation) Listening (multiple choice Qs) Reading (multiple choice Qs) Speaking (instructors evaluation) Writing (instructors evaluation)
900class 78.6 91.6 79 87.3 79.2 81 91 92.3
1100class 75.6 93.6 82 91.3 77.7 77.7 94 94.3
300class 79.2 90.4 81.7 86 83.5 79.2 88.1 85.8
500class 78.2 94.2 79.7 92 82.5 80.2 95.3 88

• Weekly quizzes included a question about the
  content covered during the JVC meetings.

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Comments from UCI Students

• When we were first told that we would have to
  participate in JVC meetings, I was rather
  intimidated and nervous since I lacked confidence
  in my Japanese. But when we finally started and I
  saw a friendly, smiling face from the other side
  of the camera, I felt immediately reassured.
  Talking to everyone these last couple of weeks
  has been incredibly fun and being able to meet
  and make new friends has made me very happy.

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Comments from UCI Students (continued)

• I think that the JVC Conferences have been very
  valuable to my learning Japanese. This is because
  I am getting a "genuine" experience of sorts by
  speaking to native Japanese speakers in their own
  country. I was very surprised and amazed at how
  good at English they are! It was also good to
  have them help me on my own Japanese when I
  didn't know how to express something. I also
  think it's lots of fun learning about the
  Japanese people on a personal level by talking to
  them one-on-one and getting to now them and what
  they enjoy in life. Overall, it is a very good
  experience and I am glad that I have been able to
  be a part of it so far!

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Comments from UCI Students (continued)

• I think JVC is a very helpful exercise for us.
  We learn vocab and grammar in the classroom, but
  we lack in practicing these words and phrases in
  conversation. That is where JVC steps in and
  allows us to really practice and use all that we
  have learned with a native speaker. We discuss
  interesting topics with our partner, and we both
  get to learn different perspectives about each
  other. ???????????????????????????!
  ??JVC??????????????????

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Comments from UCI Students (continued)

• The first time I did JVC, I was kind of nervous
  if not irritated,especially because I feel that
  my Japanese speaking is not very good compared to
  my class mates. However, as time went on, I began
  to get used to initiate a conversation in
  Japanese and enjoy it overtime. Although learning
  and being competent in the language is still a
  long way to go, and I am sure I will run into
  more obstacles nonetheless, I will continue to
  do so with confidence. JVC has provided such kind
  of confidence to me. In addition, JVC also
  provides a 1 hour "escape" from the ordinary
  Irvine life style that I am living in everyday. I
  was able to get a glimpse of the Japanese life
  style that my conversation partners have.

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Comments from UCI Students (continued)

• the the jvc meetings are very good. sometimes
  there are pauses during the conversation, when we
  should be talking about the topic we were
  assigned. sometimes our conversation goes off
  topic and we don't have time to ask our
  questions. it would be good if they initiated
  questions for us to answer as well.i usually am
  the one to ask questions first about something
  about our topic.when i ask questions they are
  good to answer in english, and they are helpful
  in answering my questions. i have many questions
  about japan, so I am glad to have their help.i
  think the one-to-one conversations work well for
  our learning.

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Comments from UCI Students (continued)

• Ive found JVC to be very interesting and fun.
  It's an interactive and different way for us to
  learn to communicate with people who speak the
  language we're trying to learn. We also get a
  sense that we are helping them out, as well. I
  feel like everyone benefits from it. Having a
  targeting (sic) discussion also helps us to learn
  more about each others culture, and we can
  therefore lose any stereotypes we may have about
  one another. Also, we get to learn to be patient
  with one another. If my partner stumbles in
  English, we can work together to find the right
  word. And if I stumble in Japanese (which is more
  likely), we can find a meeting ground to discover
  what it was I was going to say. All in all, JVC
  is a very innovative way to make learning about
  Japanese culture and language really stick in
  ones mind.

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Comments from UCI Students (continued)

• I really enjoy JVC and I feel that it is helping
  me speak quickly in Japanese. I think one of the
  most important things is to converse in Japanese
  quickly and without translating from English. I
  also enjoy meeting new people and listening to
  what they have to say about the topics we've had.
  Lastly JVC also helps the TCFL students speak
  English. I think JVC is awesome!

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Comments from UCI Students (continued)

• I really enjoy the JVC meeting sessions. I took
  AP Japanese in high school, and the listening
  prompts were always make pretend chats with
  Japanese students via prerecorded messages. Those
  were static and pretty mechanical. But the JVC
  meetings are the real thing it enriches my
  learning of Japanese by letting me speak to real
  Japanese speakers.Meeting people in Japanese is
  also an amazing experience because I get to learn
  about people my age in Japan. It's my first time
  interacting with Japanese students, so it is very
  helpful and fun.

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Comments from UCI Students (continued)

• JVC JVC meetings are a great way to enhance our
  speaking abilities! The people we Speak to are
  always friendly and sociable, so its not
  difficult to get along. It really tests our
  knowledge of the Japanese language and is similar
  to a simulation of what might happen if we were
  to tour Japan and had to get through with
  whatever we know at that point. Its intimidating
  though because the students there are extremely
  skilled in the English language, but it
  encourages us to get better and to study more.
  Personally, the sessions go on a little too long
  and learning in class seems like it should be
  more of a priority, but theyre fun nevertheless.

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Findings from Comments

• Only one negative comment among 28 students
• Obtaining first-hand information
• Experiencing authentic conversation as opposed to
  schemed conversation.
• Feeling a sense of self-efficacy
• Building friendship and a community of learners
• Having increased motivation for learning culture
  and language
• Learning to initiate conversation (a first step
  for autonomous learning?)

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Findings from Observation

• Almost no absentees
• Smiles on faces during the entire session
• Many students exchanging e-mail addresses
• Praising partners English
• Looking confident when talking in English
• Asking the partner (not the instructor) how do
  you say this in Japanese or looking up the words
  in the dictionary
• Rephrasing or using gestures in order to get the
  message cross
• One-on-one communication prompted some formerly
  shy students to participate and be more outgoing
• Chat about the Japanese students among UCI
  classmates
• Communication among the classmates facilitated by
  chatting about the videoconference
• Talking something completely different from the
  assigned topic

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Discussion

• Role of Technology in the Language classroom
• new technologies do not only serve the new
  teaching/learning paradigms, they also help shape
  the new paradigms. A pedagogy of networked
  computers must therefore take a broad view,
  examining not only the role of information
  technology in language learning but also the role
  of language learning in an information technology
  society (Kern and Warschauer, 2000).

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Discussion(continued)

• Rethinking Language Learning
• Language learners are not just communicators and
  problem-solvers, but whole persons with hearts,
  bodies, and minds, with memories, fantasies, but
  embodied experiences, emotional resonances, and
  moral imaginings. (Kramsch, 2006 251)
• ? Our argumentExamine not only the role of
  culture in language learning but also the role of
  language learning in the culture and environment
  that we live.
• Integrating this videoconference into language
  classes on a regular basis

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Discussion(continued)

• Considerations
• Differences between US and Japan
• Language level of students on both ends
• Number of students on each side
• Time zones (morning vs. evening)
• Time change in the middle of Quarter
• Technical issues how to troubleshoot, having
  tech support on both sides, set up generic
  accounts with easy login/passwords
• Cost

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References

• Kern, R. Warschauer, M. (2000). Theory and
  practice of network-based language teaching. In
  Warschauer, M. Kern, R. (Eds.), Network-based
  language teaching Concepts and Practice.
  Cambridge
• Warschauer, M. (1999). Electronic literacies -
  Language, culture, and power in online education.
  Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.