Integrating Tutors And Call In Efl

Integrating tutors and CALL in EFL

Bob GettingsHokusei Gakuen University Junior College

Sapporo, [email protected]

bgettings.com

The Program

• Since 2005• Junior college English

majors• Academic Advising &

Study Skills• Conversation tutors in

Oral English Classes• English Lunch Program• Writing tutors

• How can CALL be used to enhance EFL classes and the tutor program?

Academic Advising & Study Skills

• Interview each student 2 or 3 times a semester

• Focus on how study meets life & short term goals

• Identify areas where students would like to improve language skills

• Students create an individual study plan

• Re-evaluate the plan and create a new one at the next interview

• Video

Problems ・ Solutions ・ CALL

• Time consuming for staff • Too much focus on

TOEFL, TOEIC & STEP Test?

• Students forget appointments or can’t change times

• Students come unprepared

• Goals are soon forgotten.

• Created Studies Skills “class”

• Tests???• Used Moodle’s Schedule

module to sign up, check or change appointments

• Used the Assignment or Database Module to have students do a guided reflection about their goals.

• Online evaluations of goals between Academic Advising visits.

Moodle’s Schedule Module

Moodle’s Database Module

Tutors in Conversation Classes

• Emphasis on World Englishes

• Tutors from Europe, Asia & Africa

• Graduate students (or spouses) from a local university

• Some were EFL teachers in their home countries

• 4 x 45 minutes a week• Teacher and 12 – 18

students• Three conversation tutors

one class a week

• Video

Goals for Tutors in the Curriculum

• Give students immediate feedback individually or during small group and pair work

• Increase affective level of engagement in conversation & writing tasks

• Multi-cultural engagement (conversation content, etc.)

• Many Englishes listening - responding• Act as EFL learner models

• See Maune, J. (to be published online). International Tutors for Conversation Classes, and Morikoshi, K. Establishing and Managing an English Writing Center in Japan in the JALT2007 Conference Proceedings.

Student Response

Conversation Tutors• 81 – 1st

106 – 2nd

• Successful?

• Should becontinued?

Student Response

Conversation Tutors• Interesting?

• When they are in class do you want to talk?

• Does your speaking ability improve?

Student Response

Conversation Tutors• Successful ？

• Equal chance to talk with them?

• Tutors’ English easy to understand?

Student Response

Conversation Tutors

• What communication strategies do you use when you can’t understand the tutors?

Problems ・ Solutions ・ CALL

• Teachers underutilize tutors (during lecture style explanations, student writing or preparation for activities?)

• Tutors too directive in activities with students

• Scheduling and absences of tutors or teachers

• Cut explanations short or put them online.

• Self-paced online guided tasks or projects that require face to face interactions with tutors.

Program wide:• Talking with teachers or

tutors individually about problems.

• Future:– Tutor & teacher training

English Lunch

• Voluntary participation?

• One teacher & 3 – 30 students

• One or two tutors• Bring cafeteria

lunches to a room with an all-English rule

• Video

Student Response

English Lunch• How many

times have you participated?

• Has it helped improve your English ability?

• Should the program be continued?

English Lunch

Problems ・ Solutions ・ CALL• Student attendance

too low

• Teacher/student ratio

• Required students to come but then attendance was too high

• Added tutors to program

Writing Lab & Writing Tutors

• Native speakers of English

• Available 9 – 5 weekdays• Students sign up for 30

minute conferences about a writing task

• Can also use a tutor’s open time for conversation practice

• Video

Student Response

Writing Tutors• Visited the Lab?

– Conversation– Writing help– No

• Program successful?

• Should the program be continued?

Student Response

Writing Tutors• Tutors

helped improve your writing skill?

• How many times did you visit?

Problems ・ Solutions ・ CALL

• Most students don’t use the tutors’ services unless they are forced to.

• Paper scheduling & missed appointments

• Tutors don’t know the teacher’s goals.

• Sometimes very busy – sometimes no students come

• Include a tutor check as part of the grade for assignments.– Asked tutors to fill out an

online questionnaire for each of my History or Composition students that they see.

• Future:– Use Schedule module?– Develop more paperwork

(online) form for teachers to request tutors’ specific guidance

– Training

First Year English Composition Paragraph Check List

1st 2nd 3rd 4thStudent number_________ class_____ Date checked ____ ____ ____ ____Student name ____________________ Checkers name ____ ____ ____ ____

Is your writing in paragraph style? □ □ □ □( 段落はパラグラフの形式をとっていますか )

Does the paragraph have a topic sentence? □ □ □ □( その段落にはトピック・センテンスは含まれていますか )

Do all the sentences relate to the topic sentence? □ □ □ □( 全ての文章はトピック・センテンスに関連していますか )

Is there more than one supporting sentence? □ □ □ □( サポート・センテンスは含まれていますか )

Is there a concluding sentence? □ □ □ □( 結論づける文章はありますか )

Are there some complex sentences? □ □ □ □

Did you check your punctuation, capitals, and plurals? □ □ □ □( 句読点、大文字・小文字、複数形など、間違いがないか確認しましたか )

Did you read your composition entirely in one sitting at least once? □ □ □ □( 最初から最後まで少なくとも一度は読みましたか )

Comments:

Personal Goals for my Classes & Tutors

• Affective engagement• Lots of feedback

• Coaching rather than a teacher fronted classroom

• Facilitate student self-reflection & goal setting

CALL & Video Analysis Projects

• Conversations• Presentations• Presentations + Audio

(YouTube, etc.) • Podcasts

Format: Student Produced Video

• Ss make a video of an oral production

• Ss open the video online and analyze their strong and weak points

• Work on one or two weak points over several classes

• Make a second video and compare it to the first.

Student produced video

• During small group work or presentation one student is the cameraperson

• When finished, they give the teacher the SD card.

• Teacher uploads the file to the net (Moodle) for analysis

Online Guided Analysis & Goal Setting

1. What was better or worse than in your usual conversation practice?

2. Describe one thing.3. List 4 or 5 of your good or bad

points.4. List some of your partner’s good &

bad points.5. List some things you would like to

change.6. Pick one thing and concretely

describe how you can practice to change it. (Student Action Plan)

Practice & Evaluation

• Before each practice tell partners the focus– Conversation – “Giving lon

ger answers to questions”– Presentations – “Eye conta

ct”– Podcast – “Voice tone”

• After practice, evaluate! – Informal discussion, paper

or online

• Ask students to summarize evaluations

Conversation Project

• Two videos of 5 – 10 minute conversations (w/ student & tutor)

• Discussion of strong & weak points

• 4 – 6 week practice with many partners before final video

Research Project begun in 2005 with Aki NishiharaSee Textbooks? No! Blended CALL for EFL Conversation Classes or Web-based video self-analysis of conversation and presentations at bgettings.com

Conversation

Problems ・ Solutions• Students focused on

visual rather than audio (language)

• Students don’t have a concrete vision of strategies to improve

• Goals too general

• Use audio recording rather than video. (Emiko Izumi – g007)

• Simpler & more focused guided analysis

• Develop online communication strategies text & videos.

• Blended (hybrid) approach with tutor-student guidance face to face

Simpler guided analysis

Some focus on strategies• After each interview question, how many

other questions did you ask your partner?

Online description of task & training

• PowerPoint explanations saved in movie format with voiceover– Captivate, iMovie, Window

s Movie Maker 2– Upload to the web for Flash

format

• Short screenshot-based movie explanations of computer based tasks– Captivate, SnapzPro

• Text or graphics based instruction

Presentation Project

• Individual or group• Given to 3 – 5 listeners per time

and repeated 3 – 7 times• Before and after videos• Formal feedback after each pre

sentation• Focus on research and content• Writing tutor advice on script• Focus on interaction with audien

ce and discussion• Can be recycled as podcasts for

a wider audience

Presentations

Problems ・ Solutions• Time consuming • Students need to

learn technical things not related to oral production goal.

• Absence of one member of group

• Coordination with Computer Literacy class

• Presentations outside of class can be videoed and submitted

Presentations + Audio?

• Recycle presentations adding voiceovers

• Record with headset – Directly into PowerPoint on Macintos

h– Save Ppt as graphics and make a slid

eshow movie with iMovie or Windows Movie Maker 2

– Record with Audacity or IC recorder

• Upload to YouTube, voicethread or another online sharing site

See Sergio Mazzarelli’s abstract d-020 or http://www.deepmoat.com/moodle

Presentations + Audio?

• Focus on writing tutor reviewing the script

• Focus on teacher or tutor as voice coach

• Practice of clarity and dramatic reading

• Begin with PowerPoint and text for practice with the final product being a recording

Presentations + Audio

Expected Problems ・Solutions• Learning curve

• Distribution & feedback

• Make project extra-credit• Design technical instructi

on as a Computer Literacy class module

• Class, not individual YouTube page

• Link production to class BBS. Students must find 10 or more viewers to evaluate the slideshow

CALL: Student Self-reflection & Goal Setting Especially in Oral Production1. Online description & training so that students

can begin & complete task at own pace

2. Upload videos of student conversation practice or presentations for analysis.

3. Online questionnaires to guide observation & analysis of video.

4. Online dialog with teacher that leads to setting goals.

5. Upload of final video for self and peer evaluation of practice and improvement.

Practice – Feedback – Practice Loops & Tutors? CALL?

• Not product but practice– e.g. Presentations 4 -7 time

s– Composition rewrites– Video or podcast script writi

ng and editing

• Feedback from– Self, Peers, Tutors, Teache

r• Goals setting after feedba

ck and analysis• Practice of new goals unti

l satisfied

Both Tutors & CALL . . .

• . . .increase the individualized feedback available to each student

• . . . free the teacher from teacher fronting so that more coaching is possible

• . . . provide scaffolding for task completion so that students can learn at own pace.

• . . . can facilitate student self reflection, goal setting and autonomy

My Goals for 2008 - 2009

• Develop online training videos for communicative strategies and presentation skills

• Use EFL speakers who are also native speakers of Japanese as tutors

• Pilot the Presentations + Audio and Podcasting Projects

[email protected]

Thanks!