Russian-English Workshop:Research in task-based telecollaborationand strategic competence acquisitionKONSTANTIN SHESTAKOV, OMSK LAW ACADEMY

LONNY HARRISON, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON

Intercultural Strategic Competence (ISC)

A set of techniques that are consciously employed by a speaker to overcome linguistic and cultural breakdowns in intercultural communication.

Intercultural strategic competence (ISC)

Metacognitive strategies planning, monitoring and evaluation of language learning activitiesCognitive strategies identification, retention, or retrieval of elements of the target languageSocial strategies interacting with other learners, a teacher, or with native speakersAffective strategies regulation of learner motivation, emotions, and attitudesCompensation (modification) strategies verbal and nonverbal actions taken to compensate for the gap of knowledge of the target language

SLA Interaction hypothesis Input is provided by an expert, the learner’s output as a learning trigger is not taken into account. The learner’s role is passive at the ‘input stage’.

Initial input &

output

LC1 & LC2 mismatchawareness

intake

LC2 native

Strategies

Modified input & output

New output, new input expectations

Meaning negotiation

Rich points

Active learner (LC1 native)

Strategic competence in NS-active learner communication

Metacognitive

Cognitive

Social-affective

Compensation

TBL as a condition to ‘activate’ the learner

Authentic (real-world related) language learning tasks encourage the learner not to focus explicitly on the structure and the rules of the new language but rather on the meaning and context of communicated messages.

Traditional Communicative Approach vs. Task-Based Language Learning

Learning stages Teacher-centered approach Learner-centered approach

Production Focus on form Focus on meaning

Input salience Highlighting structures

Becoming aware of rich points

Comprehension Input adaptation Compensation strategies

Categories and structure of telecollaboration tasksInformation exchangeComparison and analysisCollaboration and product creation (O’Dowd & Waire 2009)

planning

Asynchronous contact with the partnerCognitive, metacognitive strategies

collaboration

Synchronous meeting with the partnerSocial, affective strategies

production

Post meeting work on the taskCognitive, metacognitive strategies

presentation

Presentation of the outcomeSocial, affective strategies

reflection

Reflection on task accomplishmentMetacognitive strategies

Research on telecollaboration

Previous research shows that online telecollaboration contributes to development of: Learner autonomy (Kessler and Bikowski, 2010) Linguistic competence (Ware and O’Dowd, 2008) Intercultural and sociocultural competence (Furstenberg et al., 2001, J.Belz, 2004) Online literacy skills (Guth and Helm 2011) Teachers' awareness about online project management (Dooly, 2008) Translation skills (Chen, N.-S., & Ko, L. (2010) Confidence and motivation (Wu et al, 2011) Compensation and communicative strategies (Tavakoli et al. 2011, Íñigo Yanguas

2010, Ahari et al. 2012, Lam 2006, Oxford, R.L. (1989)

Media richness theory (Daft & Lengel 1986)

Decrease in effectiveness ofcommunication

• Ability to handle multiple information cues simultaneously• Ability to facilitate rapid feedback• Ability to establish a personal focus• Ability to utilize natural language

Face to Face Communication

Video

Forum

Synchronous Audio

Video Conference

Face-to-Face Communication

Text Chat

Email

Forum

Media naturalness theory (Kock 2005)

WebiLang.com Project

Student interactions on the Webilang site

Student

Native speaker

instructor

Autonomousactivities

Native speaker student

Projects

Courses

Exercises

The Webilang Site Architecture

Blogs

LMSVirtual classroom

Synchronous communication in a virtual classroom

Asynchronous communication in blogs

Blog instructions on the use of communication strategies

Learning Management System

Interactive exercises on communication strategies

Request to repeat/paraphrase

Express/evoke personal interest

Omsk Law Academy/Drake University Communicating Abroad Project

2-3 synchronous carefully planned meetings per semester

12 Russian students, 8 American students

3-4 meetings per semester, 60 min each

Information exchange tasks: talk about your university, your city; ask your partner questions about the same topics.

Presentations: «My city» «Education», «Power distance», «Russian fatalism»

      Conversations in a virtual classroom

Triads

Pairs

Research into the effect of international collaboration on students'

metacognitive strategies

Experimental group (Omsk Law Academy students)

Control group (students of other Omsk universities)

Language proficiency intermediate intermediate

Year of studying 2nd 2nd

Learning environment  Blended(classroom + virtual)

Traditional classroom

Previous experience of communication with native speakers in a virtual environment

Yes (2 semesters) No

Number of participants in the experiment

13 8

Virtual environment Moodle, email, Webex Meeting Centre

email, Webex Meeting Centre

Research Question 1:focus on metacognitive strategies

Query: How do metacognitive strategies affect students’ performance in communication with a native speaker?

Method

Students were given the following tasks:

1) Write an email to your native speaker partner; suggest a topic you would like to discuss, ◦ and schedule a meeting in WebEx.

2) Converse with your partner in WebEx.

3) Write a report about your conversation to a MOODLE forum.

Communicative strategies & online literacy skills used by students

e- experimental, c- control group e  c

Explanation of cultural realia + +

Code switching (use of the native language) + +

Simplification and/or generalization + +

Paraphrasing + +

Checking comprehension + +

Repeat and request to repeat + +

Asking partner for clarification + +

Evoking partner's personal interest + +

Establishing common interests + +

Use of pre-planned presentations, videos, pictures + -

Use of the chat box (and other online literacy skills) + -

Use of online resources (dictionaries, links, web pages) + -

compensation social-affective metacognitive cognitive

Discussion

Experimental Group (EG) used metacognitive strategies (planning the meeting,

preparing materials) 90% of students reported feeling confident and comfortable

while communicating with a NS

Control Group (CG)o no direct evidence of students using metacognitive strategieso only 30% of students felt comfortable while talking to a NSo 70% felt anxiety, fear, lack of confidence

ConclusionsFactors that made a positive impact: students’ familiarity with technology previous experience in collaboration with native speakers use of metacognitive strategies

Strategic competence and online literacy skills decrease difficulties in communication in the target language.

Regular collaboration with NS’s in a virtual environment decreases anxiety and fear during intercultural communication.

Students who have experience in communicating with NS’s use a wider range of communication strategies.

UTA-Omsk Law Academy Translation Workshop Description

8 Russian and 7 American students 12 group meetings and 3 individual meetings during interpretation classes Met in virtual classroom and Second Life Role play translating tasks Students played roles of:

1) situational dialogue—in a souvenir shop, business meetings, virtual excursions etc.

2) interpreters for these negotiations

Role play in Second Life

Oral translation classes in a video conference

Query: Is there a correlation between students’ use of social and collaboration strategies and the quality of translation output?

MethodEG: 13 participants (2 semesters of translation studies) CG1: 7 participants (6 semesters)СG2: 8 participants (2 semesters) 1) students of EG and CGs translated a Wikipedia article, Russian to English2) EG students contacted NS partners, received corrective feedback3) EG also worked collaboratively in Google Translator Toolkit

Students of CGs translated on their own; neither had contact with NS’s

Research Question 2:focus on social strategies

Research data

Groups Number of language & translation study hours before the experiment

Average score of translation quality in each group

EG 366 59

CG 1 1058 55

CG 2 366 21

Discussion

EG outperformed CG2 EG achieved similar results to CG1

Explanationo EG students discussed translations with NS’s asynchronously and synchronously

o NS’s pointed out linguistic mistakes and provided clarificationsEG students shared translation memory in Google Translator Toolkit

Conclusions

Translations by the EG were not better than those of CG2

Thus: The collaborative project does not lead to significant gains in linguistic competences in the short term. However, students acquired social strategies that were used to accomplish the linguistic task effectively.

UTA-Omsk joint course description

Students enrolled in separate courses: at OLA a class studying Englishat UTA a class studying Russian One hour-long session per week consisted of a professor-led virtual meeting via videoconference between students at OLA and UTA to practice spoken Russian and English and to share in cultural experience. Two other synchronous classes were spent at each school preparing for the virtual meeting.

Asynchronous meetings between partner pairs were assigned for cross-linguistic and cross-cultural practice. Partners conversed in a virtual meeting space and shared multimedia technology to work on assigned translations and other active learning tasks.

UTA-Omsk joint course description

15 Group meetings

3-4 Individual meetings

Students’ products

Research Question 3:focus on the affective component

Query: How does regular collaboration with native speakers affect students’ motivation as part of their social affective strategy?

Method

A survey was distributed, which included the following questions:

1) On a scale of 1 - 10 how likely are you to a) take a similar language course in the future? b) recommend this course to others?

Survey results, cont.2) Did you feel that you had more or less opportunity to practice your language skills in this course, compared to other language courses you’ve taken?

3) How did you feel about interactions with your classmates and overseas partners during group and private meetings a) at the beginning of the course; b) at the end of the course?

4) What was the most challenging aspect of the course and how did you cope with it?

5) What were the most and the least usefu l assignments?

Were the course expectations met?How did you feel about interactions with your classmates and overseas partners during group and private meetings a) at the beginning of the course; b) at the end of the course?

Challenges reported by students

• Connecting with partners (time difference) • Communication (undeveloped language skills)• Technology (connectivity problems)• Homework (preparation time)• Motivation mismatch (different educational standards in organization and evaluation)

Tasks and opportunity to practice language skills

What were the most usefu l assignments ? 55% students reported communicating with native speakers 45% mentioned presentations (especially on ‘History’ and ‘Student life’)Wh at were the least useful and why?o the chapters in the book and writing in the blog received the most controversial

evaluations, for example:‘The Wordpress blog was the most effective because everyone was able to use it and you could read their blogs to see what they talked about with their partners. I liked that the most, but it was also the least effective because not everyone posted on their blog, thus making it pointless.’Did you feel that you had more or less opportunity to practice your language skills in this course, compared to other language courses you’ve taken? 85% reported they had more opportunity to practice language skills in this

course than in other language courses.

Online affective strategies

Online affective strategies included:• using humor for topic discussions and in presentations (reducing anxiety)• structured tasks (reducing anxiety)• choosing topics relevant to students' life (relevance/motivation)• getting in contact with a NS partner via email and videoconference

(self-confidence, motivation)• blogging, reporting on communication with a NS partner (self-confidence)• collaborating with overseas partner in a shared multimedia workplace—

blog, whiteboard, chat (attention/motivation)• goal orientation through creating a product (relevance/motivation)

Discussion

40% of students felt anxious and nervous before the group meetings started; at the end of the course all of them overcame their fear

80% of students were very excited before one-to-one meetings and about 40% felt frustration at the end of the courseExplanation o The main obstacle for one-to-one meeting was matching students’ schedules,

while group meetings had a fixed meeting time.o Second, students were able to prepare better for group discussions (usually

presentations).o Third, group meetings were better structured than one-to-one meetings, which

seemed a safer format for low-language-proficiency students. o Finally, group meetings had more potential for ‘psychological arousal’. There were

more opportunities for interaction: with the Russian and American teacher, the groups, the one-to-one partner. This environment offered diverse and non-standard emotional exchange.

Conclusions

The majority of students were satisfied with the course.

The essential components for students' satisfaction (and as a result, motivation to learn the language) with the course were:

a) topic relevance to students' interestsb) opportunity to communicate with NS partnersc) opportunity to work and present a product

Conclusions, cont. The collaborative project contributed to students' self confidence but with limitations: more opportunities should be afforded for creating an environment for group work and a sense of belonging to a community.

Failure of one of the partners to cooperate diminishes personal control and reduces confidence.

Level of anxiety decreases significantly when students are afforded regular and fixed meetings with a more structured task.

Research Question 4:focus on cognitive strategies

Query: How does students’ employment of cognitive strategies in collaboration with native speakers affect text interpretation?

Method Students were given the following text interpretation task: 1. Translate the poem and describe the cultural references on your own or from consulting the Web.

2. Hand in the preliminary work to your professor. 3. Meet with your partner(s) and ask them to help you with the translation and the cultural references.

4. Complete the translation and fill in the missing cultural references with the help of your partner.

5. Hand in or publish in the blog the edited version of your translation and cultural comments.

Preliminary results Before the meeting After the meeting

Student 1 8 22

Student 2 9 24

Student 3 12 19

Student 4 8 15

Student 5 7 20

Student 6 8 20

Student 7 11 21

Student 8 15 19

Student 9 16 20

Student 10 15 20

mean 11 20

Number of culture references students were aware of before and after meeting with a native speaker

Conclusions

Students who employed a set of cognitive and social strategies:

o experienced decrease in the cognitive load involved in referencing, searching, and analyzing information necessary for text interpretation. o provided significantly more cultural references than the studentswho either didn’t meet with native speakers or than themselves,before they met with their partners.