Blog Task - Creating Hypertext & Hypermedia

The Art of Capoeira

All the way from Brazil, capoeira (pronounced as cap-wear-a) has finally made its way to all over the world. It is an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines together with several elements such as martial arts, music, and dance. Based on wikipedia, it stated that capoeira is originally founded by by African slaves that were brought to Brazil after the sixteenth century. Back then it was developed in the region of Quilombo dos Palmares, located in Brazilian state of Alagoas, which was the state of Pernambuco before dismemberment and has great influence on the Afro-Brazilian generations, with strong presence in the state of Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro.

In order to perform capoeira, the participants need to form a roda, and take turns either playing musical instruments, singing, or sparring performing the capoeira. Usually it will involves with acrobatic plays, feints, and extensive use of sweeps, kicks and headbutts. But there are also another movement such as elbow strikes, slaps, punches, and body throw but these kind of movements are rarely seen.

Nowadays, capoeira is no longer an art performed by Afro-Brazilian, but it is also widely accepted in the whole world. As example, many performers in US used it for their livings, and many clubs are founded, and many competition based-on capoeira was conducted (click here). Even capoeira now is becoming one of famous self-defense technique which practiced by all people in the world. As well as appealing to people of all ages, capoeira is good for developing a whole range of skills too. The energetic kicks, ducks and twists involved help to increase agility, flexibility, strength, speed and coordination. Capoeira's not bad for weight loss either, as it requires a lot of movement.

Click here to see the beauty of capoeira

TASK 2 - ARTICLE REVIEW

Url: http://llt.msu.edu/vol14num1/winkegasssydorenko.pdf

A. PROPER CITATION OF THE ARTICLE

a) Title: The Effects of Captioning Videos Used for Foreign Language Listening Activities

b) Journal: Language Learning & Theory, Volume 14, Number 1, February 2010

c) Author's Name:

1. Paul Winke, Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistic and Languages (Michigan State University). She teaches language testing and language teaching methods in the MA TESOL and Second Language Studies Programs. Her research interests concern the assessment of L2 learners, individual differences, and teaching methods. She can be contacted at winke[at]msu.edu
   
2. Susan Gass, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistic and Languages (Michigan State University). Has served as the President of the American Association for Applied Linguistic and of the International Association of Applied Linguistic. She can be contacted at gass[at]msu.edu
   
3. Tetyana Sydorenko, Ph.D candidate in the Second Language Studies Program at Michigan State University. Her research interests include computer-assisted language instruction and testing, second language curriculum and materials development, and second language acquisition She has published book chapters on computer-assisted language learning and testing. She can be contacted at sydoren1[at]msu.edu
   

B. SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE
The research was conducted with the purpose of investigating the effects of captioning videos used for foreign language listening activities. The main aim for this research is to investigate second language learners' use of captions while watching videos in any foreign language. Besides that, it also meant to investigate what the learners do with the captions, whether they read the whole text, or just in part in order to check where the attention is focused. Another aim of this research is to analyze the relevant level of proficiency required to make captions beneficial, which reflecting on the suitability of the captions for different level of students. In order to collect the data for this research, the researchers have gathered 150 second language learners from a Midwestern university in US consist of 59 male and 91 female volunteers. They were 2nd and 4th year learners of Spanish, 2nd and 4yh year learners of Russian, and 2nd year learners of Arabic and Chinese. All participants were English native speakers except for one who spoke in Kannada. The subjects have to undergone three levels of tests which are vocabulary tests, test of prior knowledge of key words, and comprehension tests. Before taking the tests, the subjects are required to watch 3 short videos with and without captions. For the first test - vocabulary tests, all subjects were given the same key target language vocabulary from the videos without English cognates. Then they were asked to translate the words into English. Exact translations or synonyms received full credit (1), for not synonyms but from the same semantic field received partial credit (1/2), and incorrect translations were given no credit (0). Meanwhile for the second test - subjects were tested on their prior knowledge of the key vocabulary of targeted language. They were presented with all vocabulary from the vocabulary tests and were asked to rate the words as to if they knew the word before seeing the videos. Points for unfamiliar words translated correctly or almost correctly on the vocabulary tests were summed to obtain a raw vocabulary score. For the third test, the subjects were given a few set of questions in order to check their understanding on the video. One point were given to each correct answer, and nil for incorrect answer. Based on the result, it can be said that captioning gives greater impact on learning process. The subjects who were exposed to captioned video able to give the expected result - based on the research questions.

C. MY REACTION

Indeed, this research fascinated me. I used to believe that watching
English programs will not really help me in improving my English. I
was told by some people that by reading the caption in the movie,
it will distract the process of learning English. However,upon reading
this article, and acknolwedging the results of the study, I've realized
that by reading the subtitle will somehow assist the learners
to learn the target language. Hence, I would love to quote the authors'
statement:

"Audiovisual materials enhanced with captions are powerful
pedagogical tools that are believed to help improve L2 listening
and reading comprehension
(Borras & Lafayette, 1994; Danan, 2004; Garza, 1991; Markham &
Peter, 2003)

In my opinion, the research was conducted well as it has answered
all the research questions stated in the article. For instance, based
on the findings of the study, it is evident that captioned, rahter than
non-captioned videos allow novel vocabulary recognition and overall
comprehension to occur. The study has also proved that captioned videos
functions as an efficient tool for all proficiency levels.


I believed that the result of this research is quite useful for educational
development in Malaysia, particularly in the areas where employing
videos in class are concerned. The study will without doubt provide
the guidance for the teachers that to better teach English language
to the students, captioned videos are possible to be used as a
successful teaching material. In fact, students nowadays can't just
be taught using chalk & talk method. Technologies, gadgets and videos
should be exploited in the language lessons. Well it may be easy for
advanced or intermediate learners who have become used to the target
language not to be dependent so much on the captions, however I am
mindful that captions assist novice in learning the target language
since captions could aid them to visualize what they hear. Thus,
I am in favour of using captioned videos in language class since
language learners will be aware of how the words displayed in
captions are pronounced. This will definitely improve their cognitive
processes. Captioned vidoes will make the teachers' job easier and the
lesson more appealing. In addition, teachers need not worry about
videos which are not captioned since they can even do it themselves
using Adobe Premier, iMovie or ViewPoint. Garza (1991) had noted that
captions assist language learners to connect auditory to visual input.
The more reason for educators to exploit the use of captioned videos.

Consequently, i hold high hopes that more educators need
to be shared the findings of this study through conferences, seminars
and workshops. So teachers can make use of captioned videos in teaching
the target language more effectively and efficiently.

1st Task - Website Evaluation

For this task, I have chosen to evaluate this website, http://www.manythings.org/

1) What does the application attempt to "teach'?
This website is basically an English interactive website which attempts to teach and to strengthen the second language learners' efficiency in English through certain activities and exercises. This website emphasizes the learning on grammar, vocabulary, and four language skills such as reading, writing, listening and speaking. This website also promotes interesting and interactive learning through the activities provided. The activities are quite interesting which it leads to entertaining learning. Besides that, the activities also provide immediate feedback which leads to interactive learning. This application is not just one-end product.
Besides that, the website also promotes information which covers a whole wide range of topics. As example, the differences between the spelling in American and British are differentiated through the use of colours. the use of history, and information related to the famous people also make the learning becoming more meaningful. As students carry out the activities, they not only learning about English, but also other related information or new knowledge as mentioned above, so on and so forth.
The application also teach the learners not to easily give up, and at the same time encourages their anticipation and interest in learning English. This application gives immediate feedback and a few of chances for the learners to re-choose their answers (if they gave wrong answer). Thus, it encourages the learners to learn, to try, and to lessen their defensiveness towards the teacher and English itself.


2) What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?
In this website, the publisher team has created different activities for different topics. The users are expected to do the activities such as quizzes, word games, word puzzles, proverbs, slang expressions, anagrams, a random-sentence generator and other computer assisted language learning activities which are created to meet the suitability of the learning.
If the user is still new to this application, or still new to English, they are advised to go to the page for beginner which the activities provided there are quite simple, and user friendly.
Besides that, the users are also expected to complete an activity before they can proceed to the next level. This is to ensure that the level of the activity is relevant to the learners.



3) What sorts of computer skills are the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?
Basically, there is no need for high or advanced knowledge or skill in computing or technology in order to run the application. The users just need to posses the basic requirement for computing such as:

1. The user must be able to use the word processing software such as Microsoft Words to manipulate, create, store and retrieve the written information in the website. This skill is very important as the user must know how to transfer and edit the information from the website into another platform.
2. The user must be able to connect to the internet, and posses some skills internet skill.
3. The user must be able to use email to communicate, and to share or express ideas with the community in the website.
   

4) While you are "playing"/"accessing" the application, does it remind you of anything you do in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self-study?
It does remind me of my practicum days, and it also reminds me of CALL class. A few months ago, I was sent to a school and I still remember I used some of flash games in order to raise the students interest. There was a game where the students act as sheriffs and are required to catch the criminals. The criminals are holding certain words. Basically, they were given clues, and were asked to catch the criminal who holds the antonym or synonym words of the clues given. It also happened that I had taken some of the activities provided in the website such as copy and paste, word puzzles, and etcetera and apply it into my micro or macro teaching. In my opinion, this website offers a lot of interesting and applicable activities that suitable even for students in Malaysia.


5) Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the apllication?
There are many theories that can be related to this application, and the most significant are: audio-lingual method, the Gouin series method, the direct method, and the cognitive code learning.

1. Audio-Lingual Method - This method focuses on the oral-based technique by drills and pronunciation practice. Sometimes it also dependence on mimicry.
   
2. The Gouin Series Method - Teach users directly (no translation) and conceptually (no explanations/ grammatical rules)
   
3. The Direct Method - No translation between first and second language, little analysis of grammatical rules. It highlights that both speech and listening comprehension are taught.
   
4. The Cognitive Code Learning - Emphasized a conscious awareness of rules and their applications to second language learning (Brown,2001). Understand the rules first, then explanation take place.
   

6) How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website(s)?
In order to answer this question, firstly we must understand the main set of constructivist theory. The main set refers to the idea that a learner construct knowledge for themselves, but with the guidance from the teacher. For this context, the learners actively seeking for the knowledge from the application by completing the activities, meanwhile the teacher will help them by guiding and monitoring them. In this context also, the Vygotsky's theory of Zone of Proximal Development is emphasized. Based on this theory, Vygotsky once argued that children develop logical and rational concepts if they are involved in dialogue with a skilled helper. For this context, we can say that the teacher works by monitoring the students' progress in carrying out the activities, which is best conducted in group. The teacher also will placed the students based on their abilities in English and in computer literacy or abilities. Then the teacher will monitor and guide them. Besides that, the learners also can ask for help from more skillful learners.
By all means, it is also resembling to Scaffolding, which the main idea or the concept is the changes in the support or guidance from the more skilled person is depending on the learners' current performance. It must be remembered that the concept of Scaffolding that suggest that assistance or guidance not only comes from the teachers or learners, but also the surrounding including the application (as an example: clues in activities). This application provides clear instructions, hints, and guidance for the learners. This lets the users to explore and discover about the activities and the learning themselves. This is much fun rather than explained by the teachers.


7) In 1980s and early 1990s, there was a major debate on 'whether the computer was "master" of or "slave" to the learning process (Higgins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation - was the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?
In my opinion. The computer wasn't meant to be a replacement for teachers, neither be an obedient servant to students. It was created to change human's life, to make anything be easier for the human being. But it never can replace human being, or being their slaves. It is undeniable that computer is widely used in education today. Many countries have used it as the TOOLS for teaching and learning. Yes, TOOLS. Even though the programmers have put all data needed for the lesson to happen, but it still needs a human called as TEACHER to guide the learners. Teachers are the one who will guide and explain to the learners regarding the steps and the procedure before, during, and after the learning take part. Thus, I believe that computer cannot be a replacement to a teacher, but it can be a really helpful tool. It can help to make the lesson become more interesting (through audio or visual) and furthermore make the learning become meaningful.

Computer also cannot be a servant to the learners. Even though it helps the learners to complete the task easier, but still, it needs some commands from the user (learner), such as by clicking on something, or typing the command. This shows that the learners are actually doing the work, and the computer just work as the tool.
Thus, I believe that computer cannot be a replacement for the teacher, nor a servant for the teacher nor learner. It is just a tool.


8) Would you like to use the application in your future work? Why?
Yes. Because I believe that this application is suitable for all people, regardless their races, nationality, and era. This is because, the content in the application is up-to-date, and I believe that it is always updated to meet and cater the recent need from the society. In my own perspective, I already used some of the activities provided in the website in my lesson during practicum. As an example, the flash matching activities. Even though I've failed to get them to use the computer as the computer lab was used for another activity, but I managed to show the game in Media room, and managed to do some activities based on the game.
Besides that, it is editable. What I mean is, you can change the activities provided in the game, and try to make it relevant and suitable to your students. Maybe you can choose the sample from the activity, but then make a new task by using another software, or maybe just using mahjong paper and etcetera. The most important thing is, use your own imagination. Take the idea from this website, and then re-made it into your own.


Suggestion/Recommendation
Based on my observation, I believed that this website is reliable and up-to-date, even for today. It's quite an useful application for English as Second Language learners and educators. It even is user friendly which make it easier to anyone to use it. However, I believed that there are certain things that can be upgraded.

1. The interface should be more interesting. As many people know, most human being interested in something beautiful and colourful. Same goes to learners. The programmer should have done it more beautifully without neglecting the user-friendly values. Basically, this application is an user friendly application. It just lack of arts, or something to attract people during their first visit.
2. Activities - the programmer should make more problem-solving based activities that can stimulate learners better.
3. Discussion - there should be a place for the learners to discuss about English, or maybe regarding the activities. It will make the activities more interesting. Furthermore it will promote extended interactive learning.
4. Comments and Feedback - they should also provide a room where the learners can voice up their idea. So that the moderator team can try to take some of the useful idea. At the same time, they can improvise their service.