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Some
Special Features of the Swedish Part of the "Language Net" Hypermedia Language
Program
The books
and links I need
Open
learning environments
Background to the Project
Second and foreign language studies, required by the Finnish school
curriculum are very extensive and demanding. Results do not, however, seem
to be very successful considering the amount of teaching. On entering the
university, students have difficulties in following the compulsory language
courses. According to school authorities and teachers, the reason for this
is lack of motivation due to students' home backgrounds and personal characteristics
as well as to rapid changes in society [Julkunen 1989]. On the other hand,
it has been suggested that poor and old-fashioned teaching is at the root
of the problem. The basic conflict seems, however, to lie in the fact that
pupils realize the social significance of learning but the actual learning
is not experienced as meaningful nor the contents as interesting. Whatever
the causes, imperfect language skills have to be taken into account and
remedied in the universities before students can start the compulsory courses
for different faculties. This calls for extra teaching which, in turn,
calls for extra resources. On the other hand, there are students who have
relatively good skills in languages and who would like to have complementary
teaching.
A Short Description of the Project
The "Language Net"-Project was started in October 1996. The purpose
of the project has been to plan and construct a net-based hypermedia program
for the remedial and complementary teaching of English and Swedish at university
level. The deadline for the project is September 1997. The project is funded
by the Finnish Ministry of Education. The project partners are the language
centers of four major universities in Finland: the University of Turku,
the University of Helsinki, the University of Tampere and Helsinki School
of Economics. The special programming and the visual planning of the program
are taken care of by the Multimedia Laboratory in connection with the University
of Tampere. Right from the beginning, the project had three clearly defined
goals [Karonen 1997]. To create and put on the World Wide Web such material
that can be used for self study and also in connection with the more traditional
teaching of English and Swedish. The program contains a great variety of
different interactive tasks. To train university language teachers so that
they will themselves be able to maintain and update the program and, furthermore,
develop and expand it. The ultimate goal is to train expert teachers who
are able to make use of a common net for co-operation between different
language centers in Finland. To create, implement and test a new kind of
open learning environment for the students of different universities, which
they can use any time and anywhere in the world. The goal is to liberate
the students, to give them the basic understanding they need to maintain
their education throughout their lives. It is important to remember that
technology is used for students and teachers, not for the sake of technology
alone. The program can provide students with educational experiences, which
they cannot otherwise experience. Technology can open doors for students
that they did not even know existed
[cf. Alvarez 1996].
Some Special Features of the Swedish Part of the Program
The Swedish part of the program is divided into two sections. The more closed section consists of texts written or selected by the Swedish team with links to vocabulary, grammar, pictures, links to the open part, etc. The open part is totally based on net resources. It contains thoroughly evaluated links that are put into different categories. The categories are based on the division of university subjects (for example medicine, history, physics, etc.). The team was compelled to make the so-called closed part larger than anticipated because of the following reasons:
The Historical Situation of the Swedish Language in Finland: Swedish is one of the official languages in Finland. Extensive legal guarantees in our constitution and elsewhere ensure that the speakers of both languages, Finnish and Swedish, have equal rights. The process of achieving this situation has at times been painful, colored with political passions and lengthy language disputes that were not settled until the 1930s. Most people in Finland consider bilingualism an enriching factor, although some would prefer to replace the teaching of Swedish in schools with some other language with a wider international range [Norri 1987]. This bilingualism means in practice that all government officials must be able to use both languages to some extent. The courses in the universities after which their skills are measured emphasize certain areas and the team had to take this into consideration.
The Volume of Teaching Swedish in Comprehensive Schools and Senior Secondary Schools: In most municipalities in Finland, English or Swedish is the first foreign language. In some larger towns or cities, students may also choose French, German or Russian as their first compulsory language. Studies in this "A-language" are begun in the third grade under the guidance of a subject teacher. Studies in language B are begun in the seventh grade, where the choice is between English and Swedish, depending on which of the two languages was selected in the third grade. This means that all the pupils in the comprehensive school study Swedish as their first or second language. All the pupils who have completed the comprehensive school may seek admission to a senior secondary school (3 years). Those who have received a senior secondary school graduation diploma may continue their studies at a university or college. In senior secondary schools students usually study both of these languages. In practice all this means is that at the time of the matriculation examination after the senior secondary school, a student has usually studied English for 10 years and Swedish 6 years [Norri 1987]. The number of Swedish classes per week is smaller than the number of English classes, too. This means, of course, that the students have better language skills in English.
The Language of the Net Resources: As everybody knows, the most common language on the net is English. There were not so many ready-made tools for language teaching in Swedish. For example, the members of the team had to write the necessary grammar books in the program because there were not any useful grammars on the net. The grammars and all similar tools were placed in the closed part of the program. The same problem existed, of course, in the open part of the program. The documents behind the links tend to be written in English. Therefore the team had to write in certain texts, too, to give the students the possibility to exercise their language skills as effectively as possible.
The Motivational Structure of the Students: The naïve learning theory assumes that learning takes place optimally when the learner is motivated. Because of historical reasons, students in Finland are more motivated to study English than Swedish. To understand this, one must have some knowledge of the political and historical background of the country. Finland was part of Sweden until 1809, when the Russians defeated Sweden in war. Finland then became part of the Russian Empire, while retaining a certain degree of autonomy. In spite of that Swedish continued to be the language of the ruling classes and of teaching, while Finnish was spoken by the bulk of the people. Since 1860, however, Finnish has developed into a cultural language and become the main language of the country whereas Swedish, once the language of politicians, administration and culture, has become the language of a small minority (about 6 %). During the nineteenth century there were debates about the superiority of these two national languages. These debates have surfaced again from time to time. Today the need for Swedish depends mostly on two factors: Finland is bilingual and Finland has very lively contacts with the other Nordic countries, specially Sweden [Norri 1987]. In Finland FL (foreign language) achievement motivation has mainly been studied within the framework created by Gardner and Lambert, e.g. integrative and/or instrumental orientation towards the foreign language [Gardner & Lambert 1972]. The former refers to the student's readiness to identify with the target culture and the latter covers the various benefits gained by studying the language (from the learner's point of view Swedish can be seen as a foreign language in Finland, not as a second language). [ Laine 1976] has added, cognitive motivation, intellectual curiosity as the third component or the general orientation to FL learning (see also [Apelt 1981]). The integrative/instrumental division has been widely criticized. It has been pointed out that it has been over-generalized to circumstances that do not correspond to the bilingual situation where it originally was developed [Piepho 1979], [McDonough 1981], [Julkunen 1989]. Nevertheless, it can be seen that the motivation of the students of English is clearly integrative and the motivation of the students of Swedish instrumental. It is easier and more common to identify with Anglo-American (youth) culture than Swedish.
Task-oriented Motivation: It would seem reasonable to assume
that learner's motivation and attitudes can be affected in the classroom.
The actual learning process can be made more enjoyable. Learning activities,
instructional materials and even individual tasks can motivate students
[Kohonen 1981], [Brophy 1983], [Ellis 1985], [Julkunen 1989]. The sources
of motivation maybe in or outside the classroom and only some of the various
types of motivation are under teachers' control. Some of them relate to
the results of learning, others to the actual process [Julkunen 1989].
As far as the actual process is concerned, computers, the net and especially
video conferencing and the use of E-mail to contact students of the same
subject in foreign countries, seem to motivate students. Thus the use of
this learning environment seems to bring the motivational structures of
the students of English and Swedish languages closer to each other.
Research in Connection with the Implementation of the Program
An international project will be started in connection with the implementation of the program, involving participants from at least four different nationalities (from Europe, the USA and Asia). If the project is provided with the necessary financial support, the participants will produce several articles appropriate for international journals in the fields of applied linguistics, critical discourse analysis and computer-assisted learning and one book. Furthermore, the project will produce one master's thesis in education and one doctor's thesis on instructional technology.
Dr. Brett Delliger, lecturer in English in the Language Center of the University of Turku, is planning a study under the working title: Teaching of Foreign Languages with New Information Technologies and the Emergence of Non-linear Discourse in Cross-cultural Communication. FL Ilkka Norri, lecturer in Swedish in the Language Center of the University of Turku, is planning a doctor's dissertation on the implementation of the program under the working title: Internet as a Tool for Language Teaching and Learning: Description, Implementation and Evaluation of the "Language Net"-Program.
[Reeves 1995] has examined the state of research in the field of instructional technology research today. He reviewed the contents of two of the primary research journals in the field, the Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D) Journal and the Journal of Computer-based Instruction (JCBI), over the periods 1989-94 for ETR&D and 1988-93 for JCBI. There were some obvious trends in the articles. First, the most common type of article in both publications was empirical in intent and quantitative in method. A deeper analysis of this kind of articles showed that most of these articles were "pseudo-scientific" in nature. The next largest group could, according to Reeves, be classified as theoretical in intent and employing literature review as the primary method. Another trend that stood out was the paucity or complete absence of interpretivist articles, developmental research studies and evaluative studies. Furthermore, there were no articles in these journals that are postmodern in intent or that employ critical theory as a methodology. This can partly be due to the fact that such articles rarely find their way into literature. Norri's dissertation will probably be evaluative (research focused on a particular program, product, or method, usually in an applied setting, for the purpose of describing it, improving it, or estimating its effectiveness and worth) in intent and it will probably employ qualitative methodology (electronic and/or traditional diaries, observation, case-studies, interviews, and other methods that primarily involve the collection of qualitative data, and its analysis using theoretical and ethnographical approaches). The descriptions are from [Reeves 1995]. (To find out more about different methods, see [Driscoll 1995]. See also [Jonassen 1996] and [Wilson 1996], two very useful books for a qualitative researcher).
Qualitative research involves the gradual development of ideas about
data and the explorations of these ideas. One can begin with descriptive
categories, derived from research or researcher's intuition. More often
categories are derived from the data during the project and linked in ways
that describe the data. The researcher constructs and tests new theories
by their links with the data [Hart 1997]. The language of qualitative research
is full of metaphors and methods for creating and ordering ideas according
to classificatory categories. As seen above, the task of the researcher
is often presented as finding and exploring categories and patterns in
unstructured, chaotic records [Richards & Richards 1994]. Computers
can help in this confusing and time-consuming process. To make this process
easier, Norri intends to make use of the NUD*IST -program (Non-numeric,
Unstructured Data - Indexing, Searching & Theorizing), which is a qualitative
research tool planned by Tom and Lyn Richards, La Trobe University, Australia.
Conclusion
The new technology and open learning environments are changing the expectations
of both students and teachers. Students who grow up in the postmodern age
will not be satisfied with lectures that fail to draw upon the information
resources on the Internet and elsewhere. Using technology does not necessarily
imply distance learning and virtual universities, although those activities
will reach increasing numbers of students. Many students will want classrooms
where technologically enhanced learning takes place. Computers will not
replace language teachers in the future. It is only one (efficient) learning
environment among others. To put it in the words of the director of the
"Language Net" -Project, Vesa Väätäjä, "computers will
not replace teachers in the future, but teachers can be replaced by other
teachers who know how to use computers".
References
[cf. Alvarez 1996] Alvarez, L.A. (1996). Defining Basic Technology. In Educom Review by Educom Review Staff. Sequence: Volume 31, Number 3.
[Apelt 1981] Apelt, W. (1981). Motivation und Frendsprachenunterricht. Leipzig: VEB Verlag Enzyklopädie.
[Brophy 1983] Brophy J.E. (1983) Fostering Student Learning and Motivation in the Elementary School Classroom. In Paris, S.G., Olson, G.M. and Stevenson, H.W. (Eds.) Learning and Motivation in the Classroom. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum. 283-305.
[Driscoll 1995] Driscoll, M.P. (1995). Paradigms for research in instructional systems. In G. L. Anglin (Ed.), Instructional Technology: Past, present and future (322-329). Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
[Ellis 1985] Ellis, R. (1985). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[Hart 1997] Hart, I. ITFORUM PAPER. Preliminary NUD*IST tree derived from the paper [Online]. Available http://www.hbg.psu.edu/bsed/intro/docs/qual/#Mind Map, March 1997.
[Jonassen 1996] Jonassen, D. H. (1996). Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology. New York:Macmillan.
[Julkunen 1989] Julkunen, K (1989). Situation- and Task-specific Motivation in Foreign-language Learning and Teaching. University of Joensuu Publications in Education 6. Joensuu: Joensuun yliopiston monistuskeskus.
[Karonen 1997] Karonen, P. Kielten opiskelu verkkoympäristössä - neljän korkeakoulun yhteishanke [Online]. Available http://www.uta.fi/~typakar/ITK97.html, 1997.
[Kohonen 1981] Kohonen, V. (1981). Vieraiden kielten kommunikatiivisen opetuksen peruskysymyksiä. In Karlsson, F. (Ed.) Suomi vieraana kielenä. Juva: WSOY. 36-61.
[McDonough 1981] McDonough, S.H. (1981). Psychology in Foreign Language Teaching. London: George Allen & Unwin.
[Norri 1987] Norri, I. (1987). A Short History of Foreign Language Teaching in Finland. History of International Relations in Education. Conference Papers for the 9th Session of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education. Volume 2. Pécs: Janus Pannonius University.
[Piepho 1979] Piepho, H-E. (1979). Kommunikative Didaktik des Englishunterrichts. Limburg: Frankonius Verlag.
[Reeves 1995] Reeves, T.C. Questionning the Questions of Instructional Technology Research. [Online] Available http://www.hbg.psu.edu/bsed/intro/docs/dean, February 15, 1995.
[Richards & Richars 1994] Richards T. J. & Richards, Lyn (1994). Using Computers in Qualitative Analysis. In Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y. (Eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Newbury Park, Sage.
[Wilson 1996] Wilson, B. G. (1996). Constructivist Learning Environments: Case Studies in Instructional Design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Educational technology.
Back to
favourite links
Back
to my home page
Some
Special Features of the Swedish Part of the "Language Net" Hypermedia Language
Program
The books
and links I need
Open
learning environments