Computer Science Capstone Design Capstone Project Description
Web2.0 portal for web-based language learning

Sponsor Information: Dr. Karen Schairer Dept. of Modern Languages Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ 86011 (928) 523-6285 Karen.Schairer@nau.edu

Project Overview: The Problem: Teaching foreign language learners to understand natural, authentic speech (i.e. just like the natives speak it) language. Much early language instruction is based on "artificial speech", i.e., simple language understanding and speaking examples constructed for the specific purpose of teaching the language. In other words, no natural speaker would ever speak this way in real life. True language mastery requires the learner to be able to understand and produce "authentic speech", that is, speech produced in everyday contexts by native speakers. The importance of authentic speech to second language learning has been recognized for decades but spontaneous, authentic speech is unpredictable and cumbersome unless accompanied by activities appropriate to the student's level. Authentic speech does not adhere to text chapter themes, includes dialectical variations, presents uncontrolled vocabulary, and is full of natural features that confuse learners including false starts, hesitations, fillers, pauses, blended words, varying velocity, and the occasional ungrammaticality. These features are reduced or eliminated in made-for-learner videos but these do not teach learners to listen around or through such natural, high-frequency features, a skill essential to language students' understanding of real world language. The Project: Create a web-based laboratory for teaching authentic speech. I have a personal archive of over 250 Spanish language oral histories, digitized and transcribed. Based on these videos, I have developed learning frameworks using various hyper-video authoring systems: first with HyperCard, then Gemini, Toolbox, Authorware, and now PowerPoint and on VISTA. As each authoring system has become technoligically outdated and been discontinued, I have had to redevelop the materials, and each system seems less flexible and less interactive than the last. I have given numerous national conference presentations and workshops with this material and both teachers and learners have stressed the uniqueness of the materials and urged me to make it available on the internet. Sample projects are available on VISTA and in PowerPoint; the minimal outcome of this project would be to re-implement these existing exercises in a web portal format. It seems clear to me, however, that much more could possibly be done by applying modern computer technology and some creativity to the base materials --- something that could open a whole new paradigm in advanced language learning using an exciting, highly motivating, computer-based graphical environment. Some possibilities include creatively embedding learning activities in an interactive gaming environment, finding new ways (e.g. a story game?) to package specific language exercises. A challenge for the team is to work with me to combine my language teaching knowledge with the technological skills of the team to explore this creative space. The Result: A web portal for anywhere, anytime language learning. MATICES will be a website for language teachers, providing authentic language materials that they can adapt to their students' levels and capabilities. Ideally teachers will be able to access pre-made materials as well as explore the entire video archive, select clips, create their own interactive exercises and feedback and make their activities available to their students (and other teachers if they wish), whatever their local platform specifications.

Knowledge, skills, and expertise required for this project: Knowledge of the Spanish language is not necessary! General Web programming expertise. Team will need to take the lead in selecting the appropriate implementation technologies (PHP, Flash, Java, etc.) Interest in delivery of web-based audio/video. Knowledge of digital audio/video formats and web-based delivery would be a plus. Databases: creating an audio/video database for efficient indexing of the audio/video source material, and efficient retrieval of same.

Equipment Requirements: Team will need access to appropriate multi-media workstations for developing an audio/visial application (these days, that means just about any PC with speakers attached). The videos are already digitized; they can, of course be converted to another format if needed.

Deliverables: The deliverables can be divided up based on feature priorities. The "basic project" represents the minimum set of features that would constitute a useful outcome; further extensions would increase client satisfaction accordingly. Basic project Online archive for language learning based on oral history videos and their transcriptions Means of uploading new videos, transcriptions, and documents Indices that can be modified as new materials are added Video frame identification system so teachers can select specific focus clips from the videos System by means of which instructors can make selected clips available to their students. Navigation system for searching videos, transcriptions, and content indices. Truly Useful Solution: cross platform web-based authoring system/templates for activities and feedback drag and drop (available for web by Hot Potatoes) which allows for: matching: drag item from one list to connect with item in second list cloze: drag item from list into blanks in a paragraph reorder sequence (first, then, next) listen / record own voice / send to professor listen / write / compare / send to professor multiple choice exercises with feedback Dream tools: examples of advanced features that could make this an amazing product sound visualization: visual intonation patterns showing the "melody" the rise and fall of the speaker's voice hot spots on screen image with associated feedback (see maps on <ilike2learn> site) Novel motivational elements, e.g., games, rewards, etc. What can you think of to make learning more fun?! Basic required documentation: Fully documented code: complete design documentation Web-based documentation for using the MATICES system. Includes instructions for installing the system for use by a system administrator and instructions for using MATICES for end users. Note that the above deliverables focus on functionalities that the system must somehow provide....and says less about how to package/deliver those functionalities. In other words, the question as to whether these functionalities must be implemented in mundane fashion as a conventional "drill and practice" paradigm....or whether a novel, more creative paradigm could be developed based on modern technologies (e.g. embedding this is a gaming model, etc.) is a creative detail that will be clarified as we get our creative juices flowing.