CALL-based EAP: From Computer Lab

to Classroom

Ingrid BarthNitza Davidovitch

Bridging the Gap

Between the ideal and the real….

Presentation Topics

How to use the computer to develop

more effective print-based materials

for students without computers.

Computer-enhanced

Print-based Materials

Using a text-processing application

to produce an integrated package

of print-based materials

Agenda

Students who work from print-based course-books.

Students who need to pass IELTS or TOEFL. Students who need to learn subject-

specific academic words and phrases AS WELL AS general academic vocabulary (Coxhead’s AWL).

.

Teachers who want to Move from High School English to

College English. Move from EAP towards ESAP.

Highlighting Vocabulary in Context.

Our text-processing application gives us the flexibility to highlight any list of subject-specific and general academic words and phrases in any collection of texts.

AWL Vocabulary in Context

Soon thereafter Desmond Morris, curator at the Zoological society of London, and R. F. Ewer of the University of Ghana independently concluded on behavioral and morphological grounds that the giant panda belonged in the raccoon family. That view was endorsed in 1986 by a team of Chinese scientists including several from the Beijing Zoo and Beijing University, who published a lengthy anatomical account of the panda.

Such problems reflect the difficulties encountered by scientists who must identify species and determine their relationships to other organisms.

Why ANOTHER

text-processing/frequency counter

application?!

Subject-specific Vocabulary

Inflation initially increases business profits, as wages and other costs lag behind price increases, leading to more capital investment and payments of dividends and interest. Personal spending may increase because of “buy now, it will cost more later” attitudes; potential real estate price appreciation may attract buyers. Domestic inflation may temporarily improve the balance of trade if the same volume of exports are

Limitations of Existing Applications

Many research-related terms and phrases are excluded from general academic word lists.

Examples of missing words and phrases:experimentcorrelationcontrol grouprepresentative sample

Frequency Count at Word Level

How many times does each word on the vocabulary list appear throughout the entire body of texts?

word frequency word frequency

consist 17 constrain 4

constant 5 construct 7

constitute 9 consult 6

Agenda

Explicit emphasis on vocabulary :

What does the theory and research say?

(The bottom line…)

4. Why Does This Work?4. Why Does This Work?

1. Research shows that vocabulary is the single strongest predictor of reading comprehension.

2. Vocabulary forms the base for listening, speaking and writing as well as reading.

3. Since the 1980’s, many studies show

that incidental learning of vocabulary is not effective enough in L2.

Highlighting vocabulary in context creates conditions for effective

L2 vocabulary acquisition:

1. Noticing

2. Retrieving (surface processing).

3. Generating (deep processing).

4. Incremental multiple exposures to target vocabulary.

Effective Vocabulary Acquisition

Generating versus “drill and kill”:

The missing link in the chain

Feature

Planned recycling

of target vocabulary

Relative Advantage

• Individual texts complement and reinforce each other to form a coherent whole.

Text processing application

Text processing application

VocabMaster-

list

VocabMaster-

list

ExercisesExercises

VocabLists

VocabLists

Body ofTexts

Package Components

Functions of the Master-List

Pedagogic Pedagogic Pedagogic Pedagogic

“Charts the Territory” •Defines thetask ahead

Running Summary•Allows students to monitor their own progress

DiagnosticTool • Students identify which words

are still not mastered

Yardstick ofProgress•Students see how each lessoncontributes to the final target

Research Directions

Research Research Research Research

Pre-test of entry-level vocabulary

Post-test:Who benefits from what-Learner variables that correlatewith student achievement

Establishing Error PatternsIdentifies which words prove difficult to remember and why

Establish Recycling Rates required for specificcategories of words

First Step –Pre-text Vocab

Vocabulary

list

What does it mean to know a word?

Ellis, N. (1995). Vocabulary Acquisition: Psychological perspectives.

Nation, P. (1994). New Ways in Teaching Vocabulary.

Wallace, M.J. (1982) Teaching Vocabulary.

WHAT IT MEANS TO "KNOW" A WORD

Recognize it in its spoken form. What are its parts of speech – how to use it in

its appropriate form. Word families. Collocations – what words go together with this

word? Context – what are its different meanings? Connotations, associations, level of formality.

Second StepReading and Noticing

Vocab in textVocabulary

list

AWL Vocabulary in Context

Soon thereafter Desmond Morris, curator at the Zoological society of London, and R. F. Ewer of the University of Ghana independently concluded on behavioral and morphological grounds that the giant panda belonged in the raccoon family. That view was endorsed in 1986 by a team of Chinese scientists including several from the Beijing Zoo and Beijing University, who published a lengthy anatomical account of the panda.

Such problems reflect the difficulties encountered by scientists who must identify species and determine their relationships to other organisms.

Third StepExercises - Retrieving and

Generating

Vocab in textVocabulary

list

Exercises

Fourth StepConsolidation

Vocab in Text

Vocab list to

Master List

Vocabulary

list

Exercises

Self-Assessment

Vocab in Text

Vocab list to

Master List

Vocabulary

list

Exercises

ReviseMaster List

What Students Say…

This way shows us which words are

important to learn.

Like CNN says – lists make order out of chaos…

I can see how this can help me with texts in my subject.

This way reminds us which words we should know already…

Thank you for your attention!ingbarth@zahav.net.il