01 INTRODUCTION

Brunei Darussalam (henceforth Brunei) is an avid supporter of technology in

education. The e-learning movement introduces the creation of multimedia in rapid

successions by teachers with sufficient programming background, thus having the insight of

both a teacher and a multimedia developer. The author is a representative of the ICT in

education movement and this paper is a justification to the author’s most recent multimedia

website entitled EnglishGuru (http://www.pueblopicasso.com/englishguru.html).

01.1 The Target Students

EnglishGuru attempts to associate with a specific teaching context faced by the target

students. The target students comprise of lower secondary level students within the age range

of 11 to 15 years old. These students are subjected to English lessons which eventually

culminate into a standardised Lower-Secondary Examination (PMB).

In the PMB, students are assessed in comprehension and composition with the

qualitative bulk of the marks allocated to composition. The composition has a ‘Section B’

component where students are prompted to describe in writing a set topic. From observations

made by teachers the orientation of this set topic is limited to four options which are (1)

describing one’s house, (2) describing someone one knows of, (3) describing animals by

comparison and (4) describing an animal. Each topic is derived from sections in the English

syllabus and is also addressed rigorously in students’ textbooks.

01.2 The Multimedia

The focus of EnglishGuru is on the topic of describing an animal which has a 25%

chance of being assessed. Since the textbooks cover the topic in detail, EnglishGuru acts as a

supplement material and it befits this role considering that students are mostly computer

literate. The topic requires students to attain general knowledge on certain animals but the

textbooks are quite restricted to pictorials and texts.

EnglishGuru is mainly constructed using Macromedia Flash and ActionScript

programming because these enable an interface that the target students are currently familiar

with as well as having certain advantages. The justifications to the design structure of this

website will be elaborated in Chapter 2 using the ADDIE model.

01.3 The Aims and Objectives

As aforementioned, the main aim of EnglishGuru is to prepare learners with general

knowledge regarding the descriptions of certain animals and consequently use this knowledge

in writing their compositions. Thus, it is best to emphasize that the objective is not

compositions but rather students equipped with knowledge to write compositions.

The main skills involved in this learning process are ‘listening’ and ‘visual’ skills

intertwined with subtle ‘reading’ skills. EnglishGuru will be used in the classroom and

possibly at home. Its implementation and evaluation will be based on hypotheses, supported

by literature, as restricted by the scope of this paper and to be scrutinized in Chapter 3.

02 ANALYSIS, DESIGN and DEVELOPMENT

The ADDIE model has always been a significant guideline for designing instructional

websites (Lohr, 1998; Molenda, 2003). The acronym stands for Analysis, Design,

Development, Implementation and Evaluation and these five phases act together as a

checklist to creating functional multimedia. This chapter deals with the first three phases and

how these associate EnglishGuru to the teaching context.

02.1 The Basic Interface

The basic user interface involves website elements that do not directly relate to

learning but to face-value. However, these elements are equally important as they influence

students in terms of functionality and motivation (Omarali, 2006a, p.17). The basic interface

includes the functionality of the platform used and the motivational properties of the

interface’s layout. The first step to successful learning is therefore to initially attract students

to the learning itself.

02.1.1 Flash as the Platform

Some computers do not support Flash but eventually Flash will become the preferred

platform for interactive websites. There is a plethora of advantages to using Flash but the

scope of this paper allows only the prominent few to be mentioned. The platform of choice is

Flash due to several reasons.

Firstly, students are being brought up in a world of interactive buttons such as

videogames and interactive TV remotes. Flash is oftentimes used in creating these general

platforms (Holzinger & Ebner, 2003). Several educators believe that dynamic interactivity

has no place in education but students are increasingly becoming more dependent on such

interactivity.

Secondly, Flash uses embedded scripting which is invulnerable to both hacking and

computer viruses compared to exposed HTML scripts. Since students are the target users it is

important to protect them from inappropriate materials that could result from external attacks.

Thirdly, Flash can be easily manipulated by its author. Flash embeds every single

component such as graphics and pages into one file whereas an HTML platform would

require the upload of folders of multiple files (Holzinger & Ebner, 2003) in addition to

having each file linked to the exact directory target. Thus, having broken links is a trait of

HTML but not Flash.

02.1.2 The Layout

The general rule of laying out a website is to have a theme. A theme represents a

united package and portrays a sense of organisation. EnglishGuru is systematically organised

into a banner, a menu bar and a content window which remains as the fixed layout for

familiarity. The website employs a ‘futuristic’ theme and color scheme which are preferred

by students as supported by a recent study on how themes affect students’ motivation to learn

(Omarali, 2006a, p.18-20).

02.2 The Role of the Embedded Teacher

The Embedded Teacher model (ET) suggests that educational websites should portray

the presence of an embedded teacher because multimedia usually relegates the classroom

teacher role to that of a moderator (Lohr, 1998, p.440). The ET model provides instructions,

directions, help and feedback for the students in tackling content and technical issues. The ET

model will be addressed in relation to the Analysis, Design and Development of the website.

02.3 The Analysis Phase : Sequencing and Navigation

Lohr (1998, p.441) correlates the ET to the roles of ‘orienting the learner’ and

‘providing navigational tools’. Similar to Hoekema’s (1984) butler model the ET orientates

the sequencing of students’ learning. The learning sequence in EnglishGuru consists of three

processes as illustrated in Diagram A (in Appendix). The first stage provides information on

how the website and its components work. This ‘instructional stage’ attempts to eliminate

problems such as technical difficulties and being ‘lost in cyberspace’.

The second stage provides background information regarding the content thus acting

as the pre-task process. The third stage involves the tasks that students need to engage in to

show comprehension and understanding of the topic.

Although students are able to skip stages it is important to go through the three stages

in sequence to optimize the learning process. The ET ensures that the process be carried out

in this sequence by providing navigational tools in parallel to the sequence and easily

accessible by students (Omarali, 2006b, Chapter 2). Therefore, three instances of navigation

are employed.

The first navigation stage automatically starts once the page is loaded. Referring to

Diagram A (in Appendix), the ‘instructional stage’ of the website starts from the ‘welcome

page’ which proceeds to the ‘how-to page’ and optionally to the ‘teacher’s page’. Once a

student completes this stage, the pages become an inconspicuous menu of individual buttons

that are always available if the student needs to reread the instructions.

The second navigation stage is depicted by the always visible menu bar. The

horizontal menu bar comprise of four distinct buttons each representing a link to a chapter of

the content. At this time students are aware that a chapter represents an animal. Students and

teachers are able to determine the chapters to be covered depending on the current lesson.

The third navigation stage is only accessible and made visible once students go

through the ‘pre-task’ stage. This prevents students from jumping into the exercises without

prior knowledge of what the chapter is about. The menu bar that depicts this stage represents

three exercises in relation to the levels of difficulty.

Apart from the three menu bars, the ET also guides students in attempting exercises

using buttons that navigate students from question to question and plays a big role in

orienting the operations of the ‘video-player’ which will be elaborated under the

Development phase subchapter.

02.4 The Design Phase : Instructions and Feedback

The ET in the design phase provides ‘instructional strategies’ and ‘interactive

feedback’ (Lohr, 1998). The instructional strategies employed include the ‘how-to pages’ and

‘teachers page’. The ‘how-to pages’ explain in great detail how to operate the ‘video-player’

and how to answer the exercises. The ‘teachers’ page’ is specifically an instructional resource

for teachers on how to employ the website into their lessons but students can also gain some

insight from reading this page.

As with all multimedia, interactive feedback is limited to its level of artificial

intelligence (AI) (Chapelle, 2001, p.32). The website’s AI feedback is limited to set

responses, which are triggered by students’ answers, in addition to calculated scores to mark

students’ performance. Alternative realistic feedback involves discussions with teachers and

students as a class, in groups or pairs, and is carried out in the classroom or the online

discussion board.

02.5 The Development Phase : The VideoPlayer

The development of the website’s design has been covered in the beginning of this

chapter. This section will explain in detail the main multimedia element of the website which

is the video player. Taking the youtube player as a comparative model the EnglishGuru

videoplayer exhibits unique traits that provide a more flexible usability and an enhanced

control of the playing video.

From observations of educational websites that utilise embedded video-player, control

of sections of the video is only achievable by dragging the ‘scrubber-bar’ that indicates the

point being played in the video timeline. The EnglishGuru videoplayer not only utilises the

same scrubber-bar method but also allows the student to jump to certain points of the video in

relation to the questions being asked. Furthermore, chapter indicators are present along the

scrubber-bar.

Another distinct feature is the ability to control the video-player using the keyboard.

Chapters can be selected and commands like play and pause can be prompted by certain keys

as illustrated in the ‘how-to page’. This function eliminates the tedious cursor movements

between controlling the player and answering the questions, thus eliminating cognitive load

which is prevalent in mouse-operated websites (Abbey, 2000, p.51).

02.6 Is the Website Ready?

This chapter has provided the rationales behind the design constructs of EnglishGuru

with support from literature. The next stage is to hypothesize on its effectiveness, akin to how

software undergo dry-runs, to analyse if EnglishGuru is indeed appropriate for the teaching

context.

03 IMPLEMENTATION and EVALUATION

Before embarking on the hypothetical implementation of EnglishGuru in the

classroom, the roles of the multimedia must be taken into consideration. The proceeding

discussion will be based on the specified teaching context and will be supported by

Chapelle’s hypothesis (1998) for the ‘implementation’ phase and Chapelle’s (2001)

principles on CALL evaluation for the ‘evaluation’ phase.

03.1 The Implementation Phase

03.1.1 The Role of the Video

The videos act as the main source of input and therefore the rationale for using them

is based on Chapelle’s (1998) hypothesis that “the linguistic characteristics of target language

input need to be made salient”. The focus to meaning that is being emphasised by

EnglishGuru is the need to gather information on the appearance, behaviour and interesting

knowledge of the respective animals. The videos employed are chosen for their content in

meaning through multiple exposures. Each animal has a repertoire of three videos that is

expected to provide opportunities for the students to apperceive the knowledge.

Focus on form to attain focus on meaning is also portrayed by the ‘cues’ in question

forms that are visible below the videos. Students are prompted to extract specific information

from the videos but if the embedded focus on form characteristics are not perceived by the

students then focus on form can be pointed out by the teacher or other students (Long &

Robinson, 1998, p.23).

03.1.2 The Learner Needs

The remaining six of Chapelle’s (1998) seven hypotheses revolve around the needs of

the students, thus providing a theoretical understanding of how the implementation of

EnglishGuru would affect learners.

Chapelle’s 2nd hypothesis states that “learners should receive help in comprehending

semantic and syntactic aspects of linguistic input” (1998, p.23). This further strengthens the

rationale of using videos as they are enriched forms of input. Chapelle (2003, p.25) states that

videos that accompany input that are based on comprehending linguistic input through

listening can “increase the authenticity of the input relative to situations in which visual

information is part of the input”. Since the aim includes exposing students to physical

appearances and behaviours, visual information is indeed a form of assistance.

The third hypothesis is that “learners need to have opportunities to produce target

language output” (Chapelle, 1998, p.23). This is acknowledged by the quizzes that test

students’ apperception and comprehension. Moreover, the quizzes differ in levels of

difficulty according to the semantic and syntactic demands of the videos, with the first being

the easiest and the last being the hardest. More is demanded of the students in terms of output

as they progress, from answering multiple choices to filling in words to constructing short

phrases relevant to the input. Finally, their language output will accumulate into compositions

as aimed by EnglishGuru.

Chapelle’s (1998, p.23) fourth hypothesis states that “learners need to notice errors in

their own output” either by self-reflection or by others. EnglishGuru favors self-reflection

because it promotes meaningful learning. Whenever students produce errors, EnglishGuru

provides cues to help them reflect on their errors. Several examples include ‘you got one

wrong answer’ and ‘you are partially correct’. Under no circumstances will EnglishGuru

provide the exact answers because it attempts to scaffold students’ progress in their zone of

proximal development.

Chapelle’s (1998, p.24) fifth hypothesis states that “learners need to correct their

linguistic output”. With regards to EnglishGuru, whenever students make errors and need to

correct them, their corrections are not under the pretext of being able to comprehend the

videos but rather to ensure that these errors do not manifest in their compositions.

The sixth hypothesis states that “learners need to engage in target language interaction

whose structure can be modified for negotiation of meaning” (Chapelle, 1998, p.24).

Realistically, some students would encounter unknown elements while performing task. On

the one hand, Unknown elements of input are portrayed by the blanks that need be filled in

the quizzes by using the students’ ability to infer the missing elements. Therefore, students

negotiate meaning between the video and the quizzes. On the other hand, negotiation of

meaning through output is made possible after the completion of EnglishGuru, where the

eventual aim is to construct compositions as a class of students.

The seventh hypothesis states that “learners should engage in L2 tasks designed to

maximise opportunities for good interaction. Although meaningful computer-human

interaction is somehow limited, the presence of the discussion board instigates interaction

among students before, during and after performing the tasks. Thus, the discussion board

compensates for any lack of language usage that EnglishGuru exhibits.

It is safe to state that EnglishGuru, with regard to its application, has satisfied

Chapelle’s hypotheses to a considerable extent. Nonetheless, EnglishGuru must be further

evaluated on its appropriateness according to the specified teaching context.

03.2 The Evaluation Phase

Since EnglishGuru has not been implemented into the classroom, Chapelle’s (2001,

p.58) ‘Judgemental Evaluation of CALL’ will serve as the basis for evaluation which in turn

is correlated with assumptions. Due to the given limitations, this section will only briefly

elaborate on the appropriateness of EnglishGuru within the scope that was established.

EnglishGuru promotes language learning potential through focus on form (Chapelle,

2001, p.55). To some extent, EnglishGuru presents ‘modification of output’ and ‘stakes’

(Skehan, 1998, p.142) to promote focus on form where the former is portrayed by the

students’ accessibility to modify their errors and the latter is portrayed by students not being

able to attain all correct answers unless they repetitively attempt tasks to do so.

EnglishGuru’s tasks increase learners’ language ability (Chapelle, 2001, p.55) by

providing videos and quizzes that differ in difficulty according to students’ characteristics.

Deciding which level to attempt on is based on students’ ability and the progress of the

classroom.

Meaning focus (Chapelle, 2001, p. 56) is attained through discussions pertaining to

the tasks via the discussion board as well as prior to the task where students are presented

with descriptive passages on each animal.

The authenticity (Chapelle, 2001, p.56) of the task is supported by the fact that

students’ are being trained to prepare for their PMB examinations. EnglishGuru is not a

collection of tasks in need of completion but rather a supplementary material to teach realistic

meanings.

The skills of noticing and apperceiving from visual input, as well as the demands of

proper sentence constructions in ‘Quiz 3’ quizzes, helps to develop strategies that would be

useful for examinations and also promote students’ interest in other forms of English

acquisition that adapts a similar framework. These can be acknowledged as the positive

impacts (Chapelle, 2001, p.57) of EnglishGuru.

03.3 Conclusion

A way to conclude the justification of using EnglishGuru is through the elaboration of

Chapelle’s (2001, p.57) final quality requirement for CALL evaluation, which is practicality.

EnglishGuru aims to act as a supplement to the students’ quest in gathering information

pertaining to the topic. Thus, it is not a requirement and lessons can continue without its

presence. However, its implementation delivers a sense of practicality in learning about

animals, insofar as being a substitute for a field-trip to the zoo. EnglishGuru enables students

to view how the animals actually look like and behave, among other information, through

interactive aural and visual learning hence making the learning process more interesting and

enjoyable as compared to static texts.

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