Academic
Exchange Quarterly Spring 2006
ISSN 1096-1453 Volume 10, Issue 1
To cite, use
print source rather than this on-line version which may not
reflect print copy format requirements or text lay-out and
pagination.
Standards in Internet-Based Newspaper
Project
Miyuki
Fukai, Columbia University, NY
Miyuki Fukai, Ph.D., is Lecturer in
Japanese at Columbia University.
Abstract
This paper discusses a study exploring the Internet as a tool to
address Standards for Foreign Language
Learning. Data were collected from
student productions during an Internet-based newspaper project in an advanced,
college-level Japanese course. Although
some goal areas surfaced more frequently than others, all five goal areas of
the Standards appeared in the data, indicating that the Internet can play a
major role in addressing the Standards.
Introduction
One major influence upon foreign
language education in the U.S. is Standards
for Foreign Language Learning (1996; henceforth
"Standards"). The Standards
aim to provide foreign language educators with guidance in their effort to
enhance foreign language learning. This
paper reports a study of Standards implementation in a Japanese classroom using
the Internet.
Literature Review
Originating in the educational
reform movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Standards set national
goals for foreign language learning in the U.S.
The Standards describe what foreign language learners should know and be
able to do under five goal areas known as "five Cs": Communication,
Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. The Communication goal area has three content
standards, and each of the other goal areas has two.
According
to the Standards, Communication focuses on the mastery of spoken and written
communication skills in interpersonal (Standard 1.1), interpretive (Standard
1.2), and presentational (Standards 1.3) modes.
"Interpersonal" refers to two-way communication, while
"interpretive" and "presentational" are the receiving and
giving of information, respectively.
Defining "culture" as consisting of three aspects, i.e.,
practices, products, and perspectives, Cultures promotes proficiency in the
target culture by understanding the relationship between practices and
perspectives (Standard 2.1) and between products and perspectives (Standard
2.2). Connections refers to
interdisciplinary learning in which students use the target language to reinforce
knowledge from other disciplines (Standard 3.1) and to obtain information about
other disciplines (Standard 3.2). Aimed
at intercultural exploration, Comparisons encourages students to become aware
of other viewpoints through comparing the target language to their own
(Standard 4.1) and the target culture to their own (Standard 4.2). The goal of Communities is use the target language both in and outside
the classroom (Standard 5.1) as well as to encourage prolonged engagement in
foreign language learning (Standard 5.2), thus equipping students with the skills
to live in our global society.
These five Cs expand foreign
language study beyond grammar and vocabulary into life-enriching skills and
knowledge. In creating standards-based
classrooms, many foreign language educators have utilized the Internet. Research shows that computer-mediated communication (CMC) such as e-mail
enables learners to communicate in the target language with a real audience
(Torii-Williams, 2004; Van Handle & Corl, 1998),
corresponding to interpersonal communication (Standard 1.1). CMC is also effective in addressing Cultures:
It helps students understand practices, products, and perspectives of the
target culture (Standards 2.1 and 2.2 under Cultures) by linking learners with
native speakers who can provide first-hand knowledge, surpassing traditional
materials (Kern, 1998; Hertel, 2003). In a survey of 13 first-year college Spanish
students in the U.S., Hertel found that e-mail
exchanges with Mexican students resulted in increased openness to Mexican
culture and more critical views of their own culture.
The Internet's multimedia
possibilities enable easy access to reading and listening materials, allowing
learners to practice the interpretive communication mode (Standard 1.2) (Brandl, 2002). Culturally
rich, authentic Web-based materials can bring Cultures to life (Blyth, 1999;
Van Handle, Ayres, Cimino, Dunn, Foell,
& McCarthy, 2001). Moreover, the
Internet "provides an environment in which learners can publish their own
information aimed at a real audience" (Harrison, 1998, p. 441). As a place of publication, the Internet may
engage learners in presentational communication (Standard 1.3).
The Internet allows learners to easily
collect information, learn about other disciplines (Standards 3.1 and 3.2 under
Connections), and compare the target language and culture to their own
(Standards 4.1 and 4.2 under Comparisons) (Ady,
1999). Gonglewski
(1999) maintains that the Internet’s vastness means that there are resources in
the target language for interdisciplinary learning at all levels. Torii-Williams (2004)
conducted an e-mail exchange project between third-year Japanese students in
the U.S. and Japanese native speakers.
She found her students became increasingly aware of linguistic
differences through trying to appropriately convey thoughts in Japanese.
As a medium of communication as
well as information gathering and sharing, the Internet may facilitate learners'
use of the target language beyond school settings: a goal under Communities
(Standard 5.1). LeLoup
and Ponterio (1996) claim that the Web helps learners
continue their studies by making current materials in the target language
available. Leh
(1997) maintains that CMC can motivate learners to use the target language for
personal enjoyment and enrichment through contact with native speakers
(Standard 5.2).
Study
This study explored the ability of
the Internet to address the Standards, focusing on an Internet-based newspaper
project (henceforth "project") in an advanced, college-level Japanese
course. It involved ten students in a fourth-year
Japanese course at a large state university in the Midwestern U.S. in Spring
2003. Participating students included six
Americans, two Koreans, one Russian, and one half-American, half-Japanese student who speaks Japanese with his mother at
home. When the course started, all but
one had stayed in Japan. The length of
their stays ranged from two weeks to eight years.
The students engaged in the
project in 16 class meetings over the 15-week semester. The project consisted of:
-
Providing biweekly
summaries of instructor-selected authentic Japanese newspaper articles on the
Web
-
Using email to
exchange opinions about the articles with Japanese native speakers in Japan
-
Discussing the
articles with the class and in smaller groups
-
Reading additional authentic
Japanese newspaper articles of students' choice on the Web and writing
summaries and opinions about them
-
Writing and publishing
articles about the university or a local town in a Web-based class newspaper
From these five activities, the
researcher collected 31 e-mail messages, 29 summaries of assigned articles, 17
summaries/opinions on articles of the students' choice, nine final drafts of
the online newspaper articles for analysis, as well as notes, tape- and video-recordings
of 16 class discussions and nine small-group discussions.
To examine how well the project
addressed the Standards, each appearance in the data of the 11 content
standards under the five goal areas was coded.
One coding scheme was developed for each of the five data sets based on the
descriptions of sample progress indicators at Grade 16 in the Japanese version
of the Standards: Standards for Japanese
Language Learning (1999; henceforth "Japanese Standards"). Interrater
agreements for all coding schemes between the researcher and her assistant were
calculated, and the minimum of .80 was obtained. After coding, identified instances were
grouped by goal area, and the proportion of each goal area to all instances was
calculated, revealing the overall coverage of the Japanese Standards in the
project. Proportional representations
were also calculated for each of the 11 content standards (e.g., Standard 1.1).
Results and Discussions
1,145 total instances were
identified: 644 (56.2 percent) of Communication, 161 (14.1 percent) of
Cultures, 239 (20.9 percent) of Connections, 40 (3.5 percent) of Comparisons,
and 61 (5.3 percent) of Communities.
Thus, the project addressed all the Cs, but Communication appeared with
particularly noticeable frequency. This was
anticipated. The Standards consider
communication essential to foreign language learning, and thus Communication
has three standards, whereas all other Cs have only two. The coding schemes reflected this difference,
and there were a greater number of Communication-related codes. Moreover, other goal areas could only be
recognized through communicative productions.
Therefore, this study looked for instances of the five Cs within student
productions, necessarily resulting in double-coded data and relatively more
instances of Communication than the other Cs.
For closer examination, the
results were divided into 11 content standards.
Table 1 shows that Standard 1.1
(interpersonal communication) was most prominent, accounting for 32.8 percent
of instances, followed by Standard 3.1 (reinforcement of knowledge from other
disciplines) at 19.1 percent and Standard 1.3 (presentational communication) at
14.7 percent.
[Table ONE]
The Internet was found to be a
contributing factor in most of the instances of interpersonal communication. Foreign language learners tend to use the
target language only in the classroom. By
emailing with Japanese native speakers, these students gained additional
opportunities for interpersonal communication.
About 35 percent of the instances of Standard 1.1 were identified in the
e-mail exchanges, supporting the claim that e-mail is valuable for achieving
two-way interaction (Gonglewski, 1999).
The Internet offered another venue
for presenting information: an online class newspaper. In the traditional classroom, instructors are
often the only audience for projects and papers. The Internet, in contrast, "provide[s]
access to student creative work in a non-time-bound manner" (McGee, 2001,
pp. 539-540). Publishing articles on the
Web expanded possible readership to all Internet users. Thus, the Internet provided students with increased
opportunity for presentational communication.
Second in frequency were instances
of Standard 3.1 (reinforcement of knowledge from other disciplines). Japanese newspaper articles allowed the
project to incorporate interdisciplinary topics in a natural manner. Topics of assigned articles included the
birth of a cloned baby, deliberation of a service-dogs bill, and the Oscar
nomination of a Japanese movie. Of the 17
summaries/opinions about student-selected articles, eight were about international
issues, three about incidents in Japan, three about politics, and one each
about health, technology, and economy.
"Convenience in accessing and obtaining an endless supply of
authentic materials in target languages" (Brandl,
2002, p. 88) on the Internet allows students to use authentic newspapers as
information sources. By using the
Web-based newspapers, the project successfully exposed the students to
interdisciplinary materials.
Instances of Standard 2.1
(understanding the relationship between practice and perspectives) were
frequently found, but many were related to the
students' successful use of the appropriate style of Japanese for different
tasks (e.g., the impersonal style in plain form within the newspaper articles,
or the polite, formal style in desu/masu form in classroom discussions). Previous studies showed that e-mail exchanges
(Kern, 1998; Hertel, 2003) and Web-based activities
(Blyth, 1999, Van Handle et al.,
2001) promote cross-cultural learning. Although
similar instances occurred in this study, there were fewer than expected. The discussion of women-only train cars
yielded the most instances of Standard 2.1.
The problem of women being groped by men in train cars is very common in
Japan. Among the eight assigned
articles, this topic was most closely connected to relatively unique aspects of
Japanese culture. The relative lack of
cross-cultural learning in this study might be explained by the fact that the
topics of the newspaper articles did not, for the most part, call on overt
cultural references.
Standards 4.1 (cultural
comparison) and 4.2 (linguistic comparison) were rare. When they occurred, it was often because the
instructor explicitly asked students to make comparisons. For example, while discussing women-only
train cars on April 11, the instructor asked the students why men groping women
are conspicuous in Japan but not in the U.S.
This elicited responses that included cultural comparisons:
On the other hand, perhaps, the
difference between America and Japan is that
American women are straightforward, right? So, if they're groped, probably
they shout or cry out. I think that's probably [what happens], but
perhaps
Asian women, well, Japanese, or Koreans
too, but perhaps, when they're
groped, they're scared, so they can't
shout. So, men think it's OK to do it
and
do it, don't
they? (Student A)
It's my opinion, but I think it
probably has to do with education system.
Like,
Korea and Japan, everyone listens to
teachers quietly, and [avoids expressing
opinions] very often, but in America
everyone openly [says] his or her own
opinions, so I think that's also
related to the society. (Student B)
On another occasion, while discussing
Japan's service-dogs bill, the instructor had students compare the number of
service dogs in Japan and the U.S.
Later, she suggested that the students ask their e-mail partners about
people with disabilities in Japan, which led to in-class discussions on the
lives of people with disabilities in Japan and the students' native countries.
This suggests that addressing
Comparisons may require conscious guidance from the instructor. Bradley and Lomicka
(2000) stress the importance of well-designed tasks in order to utilize the
vast array of authentic materials available through technology. When students are faced with the cognitively
demanding task of comparing languages and cultures, the instructor may need to
provide support or scaffolding in the form of explicit guidance as an essential
part of a well-designed task.
Finally, Standard 5.1 (use of
Japanese within and beyond school) was found more than Standard 5.2 (evidence
of becoming life-long learners). E-mail
exchanges and writing assignments based on Web-based Japanese newspapers were
the primary sources of Standard 5.1. For
example, one student e-mailed her partner more often than expected during the
project, thereby developing a personal relationship. By being an information source and
communication medium, the Internet extends use of the target language beyond
the classroom.
In contrast, Standard 5.2 was
rarely identified. This may be due to the
limited time that students could spare for the project. The students' busy schedules prevented them
from going further than required even when they wanted to. This can be seen in such comments as "I
think we're trying to do too much" and "I cannot spend more time on
Japanese 'cause I have a lot of classes."
Nevertheless, some students later stated that this project familiarized
them with online resources and encouraged them to explore Japanese web sites
for personal enjoyment (e.g., listening to music). Thus, the project seems to have sown the
seeds of autonomous learning.
Conclusions
This study examined an Internet-based
newspaper project from the perspective of the Standards. The project addressed the Standards, with the
Internet contributing by making the project accessible and convenient. Internet-based projects can help students
learn not only target languages but also how to utilize the opportunities
available online. These include communicating
through e-mail and using the Web to get information: activities which help
students to develop the electronic literacy necessary for living in today's
information society (Shetzer & Warschauer, 2000).
All five goal areas were found, but
some were more prominent than others. Although
this would seem to be a shortcoming, an examination of the 11 standards-based
sample activities in the Japanese Standards (1999) used in this study leads us
to a different conclusion: Only four sample activities encompass all five Cs,
and none covers every content standard.
This suggests that not all five Cs must be present with equal strength for
an activity to successfully address the Standards. That three goal areas appeared more
frequently than the other two does not diminish the project’s success.
While this study suggests the Internet’s
potential role in creating a standards-oriented classroom, limitations should
be noted. The limited context of the
study requires caution as to generalizing the results. Replication of similar research in different settings
is needed. The interconnectedness of the
five Cs made coding complicated, and consensus was at times problematic. Furthermore, because the nature of coding is to
identify what is visible in the data, that which was not explicitly stated or
done could not be coded. While the
standards-based coding schemes were useful for recognizing the five Cs within
this study, the five Cs as a research tool needs further examination.
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