Research Category: Language Learning

This research examines the effectiveness of using the VoiceThread (VT) application (both web and mobile-based) for the development of oral English skills of Russian university students. The study involved 44 full-time bachelor students in non-linguistic departments. The results were evaluated by online questionnaire using SurveyMonkey. The survey indicated that the majority of students agreed that mobile VoiceThread developed their oral language skills (M = 4.75) and they enjoyed using it for language learning (M = 4.13). The novelty of the research lies in a more integral assessment of the entire set of oral linguistic skills as a result of their development using a specific mobile learning platform widely used throughout the world. The results can be used in practice to implement mobile learning platforms for teaching oral language skills to students with basic knowledge of a foreign language.

Giving individual feedback in teaching speaking is very important to improve learners’ fluency and accuracy. This research talks about how speaking becomes more authentic if learners are motivated, involved in negotiation of meaning, and participating in genuine interaction. This research also talks about the need for individualized feedback. Voicethreads promote multiple learning styles. Due to all these, use Voicethreads in the ESL classroom can help learners create a greater level of success in school.

The following pages outline an internet-enhanced language learning activity designed for students of 3rd semester (intermediate) French at the University of Arizona. The fourth and final module of this course—French 201—is entitled, Penser vert (“Think green”), and is centered around cross-cultural discussions of consumption, recycling, and how to live in an environmentally conscious manner. Embedded within discussions around ecological living in various cultural contexts, the chapter integrates a review of all verb tenses, including the past, present, future, conditional, and subjunctive tenses. The proposed activity adapts the chapter’s culminating assignment—a narrated slide show presentation given in class—to the Web 2.0 platform, VoiceThread. The entire pedagogical sequence involves 1) exploration of VoiceThread, 2) creation of a VoiceThread, 3) interaction with others’ VoiceThreads, and 4) an evaluation survey in which they will be asked about their experiences with the activities and with this particular tool.

As ESL and TESOL programs moved to an online or remote teaching mode rather rapidly during the first half of 2020, many of the practical elements of face-to-face teaching needed to be reconciled in the new mode. Likewise, in a TESOL teacher training unit at Macquarie University, Australia, highly practical elements of the unit needed to be changed to an online mode in line with the new restrictions. In order to address these challenges, online microteaching activities were implemented, employing the principles of Learning-Oriented Assessment (LOA) and learner autonomy. Responding to the students’ needs, a series of asynchronous tasks were created using VoiceThread, a multimodal asynchronous interactive platform, and enabling tasks facilitated by a combination of videos, interactive H5P tasks and forums. We have found that the new approach not only met the Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs), including the practical application of teaching methodologies, but also had further advantages. The additional strengths of the approach include increased feedback literacy, and information and communication technology (ICT) skills for students, developing autonomy as learners and teachers, and developing a community and fostering engagement. The present task design is applicable to English for specific purposes (ESP) and general English teaching contexts in both fully online and face-to-face delivery modes.

“You know what would be wonderful? If there was some type of tool where you could post a picture and have the students interact with the picture, talk to each other and comment”

Through employment of asynchronous voice tools, EFL speaking practice can be moved into the XXIst century with potential benefits for students. The current paper will show that opening the classroom walls to a world audience through employment ofWeb 2.0 tools, higher expectations are engendered in students than in the in vitro class environment. Since students prepare with a real audience in mind, their motivation and subsequently their performance are expected to improve. This is extremely important and crucial especially in the case of adult students who learn the language in an artificial class environment, with poor prospects of practicing it in a real environment. We will discuss the students’ opinions on advantages of employing Voxopop (VoP) and Voice Thread (VT) in an effort to raise the EFL teachers’ awareness about the warmer teaching-learning experience asynchronous voice tools foster and the multiplicity of avenues they open.

The purpose of this action research was to assess the pedagogical value of the software program VoiceThread (VT) as compared to classroom discussions in developing and enhancing student production of the Present Subjunctive at the Intermediate level of Spanish language courses.

During this session, we will: 1) discuss the emergence of new literacies, especially digital storytelling, in the teaching and learning of English Language Learners (ELLs); 2) engage participants in an interactive discussion concerning the implications of the various new literacies for pedagogical practice; 3) demonstrate the power of digital storytelling in promoting the learning of ELLs by showing on a laptop a digital story produced by one of our students; 4) share the process of creating personal stories using a storyboard technique as a learning and teaching tool; and 5) invite participants to share their experience of creating a personal story as a way to explore how they would translate this written story into a digital form. Through these activities, we hope that participants will be motivated to explore other pedagogical possibilities for helping ELLs acquire new literacies and literate skills, thereby broadening these students’ educational experience.

The current study investigated the effects of the use of VoiceThread (VT) on the listening comprehension and attitudes of college students of Arabic as a foreign language. Thirty-five students in two 10-week classes of beginning Arabic participated in this study. The instruction in both classes was the same except that, for one group, the instruction was supplemented by the use of VT to enhance listening and speaking skills during the 10 weeks. Upon completion of the class, students using VT showed superior listening skills. Moreover, an Attitude and Engagement survey showed that the students enjoyed using VT and viewed it as a valuable tool that enhanced their language learning.

Today’s classrooms are definitely changing. While in the past, additional language teachers might have only had target-language newspapers and periodicals at their disposal to create an authentic L2 language learning environment for their students, today’s technological tools erase the barriers that once separated L1 and L2 learners and their environments. With the advent of Web 2.0 tools, additional language educators can extend their classrooms beyond the traditional brick-and-mortar walls to communicate with the world. One of the best ways to do so is to introduce VoiceThread into language lessons. In doing so, students can create conversations that extend across the classroom or across the globe.