Online TBLL environment with four interactive dyad tasks and learner-controlled subtitled videos¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 2 studies (2 causal), q2 · 1 of 2 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

A purpose-built online task-based language learning environment presenting four tasks ("Compare the Maps", "Christmas Break Trip", "Gifts for a Family", "Garage Sale") designed using the Pica, Kanagy, & Falodun (1993) topology, with dyads communicating via the WebCT-Vista chat tool. The article states "Subtitled videos in the environment were available only to the experimental group through the 'Similar Tasks' button", and students could "rewind, fast forward, play, stop, pause, or re-play each video at their will". Videos showed native speakers in similar, not identical, tasks recorded in natural settings without prescribed language.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Dyads need separate computers/labs so members communicate only through the chat tool; students received 10 minutes of instruction on the environment and WebCT-Vista before each task

Constraints¶

• The environment had no embedded chat tool, relying on WebCT-Vista; videos were restricted to the experimental condition

Target Learners¶

• intermediate-level non-native English speakers in an intensive English institute

Target Learning Goals¶

• second language communicative interaction and negotiation of meaning during task completion

Claims¶

• Non-native speaker dyads provided with subtitled videos before tasks produce a significantly higher percentage of negotiated turns in online TBLL than dyads without videos [+W]
• Completing meaning-focused tasks through CMC fosters negotiated interactions in all three modes (discussion board, text chat, videoconferencing) [+W]

Related Elements¶

Examples¶

• Set up closed, goal-oriented tasks with a limited number of possible outcomes to encourage negotiation of meaning in CMC
• Use pre-task subtitled videos of similar (not identical) tasks to build familiarity while preserving cognitive complexity

Key Sources¶

• Arslanyilmaz, A., & Pedersen, S. (2010). Enhancing negotiation of meaning through task familiarity using subtitled videos in an online TBLL environment. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 9(2). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ898004