helianlingzi

What did Grgurović & Hegelheimer find with regards to using subtitles and transcripts to help ESL students develop listening skills in English? What are some of the implications for instruction?
The results of this study showed that the participants used the subtitles more frequently and for longer periods of time than the transcript. The subtitles were also the preferred help option before and after the activity, and it appears that the participants picked the help option they were predisposed to in daily life. The higher proficiency group also used subtitles more frequently and for longer amounts of time than the lower proficiency group although both groups exhibited very similar behavior on the transcript. Overall, the results show that the participants spent less time interacting with help options than was anticipated when the study was set up. In the course of the activity, the participants exhibited great variation in the time spent on help, and a large variation was also noted in frequency of help page openings and instances of useful interaction with help.
This research also identified four patterns of participants’ interaction with help options (subtitles, transcript, non-interaction, and mixed interaction pattern) and described behavior of participants following those patterns. The analysis showed major differences between subtitles and transcript groups on one side and the non-interaction group on the other in terms of performance help page openings, and instances of useful interaction with help. While the subtitles and the transcript groups performed similarly on comprehension questions during and after the activity as well as on time and frequency of help use, the non-interaction group varied the most in behavior and performance from all other groups, probably due to task difficulty and lack of motivation.
The fact that students preferred subtitles and used subtitles more than the transcript calls for making subtitles the help option in multimedia listening materials of this kind. However, offering transcripts in addition to subtitles is likely the best solution because it provides learners with a choice. Also, the authors argue for giving users more control over the choice of help by introducing the option to skip help altogether to accommodate different learning styles and preferences.
CALL designers could implement software demos and tutorials that would promote the use of help. Teachers could prompt the use of help for both in-class (use of lecture transcripts, subtitled digital video) and out-of-class listening (captioned TV program, subtitled movies on DVD). They could also create CALL tasks that would require the use of help, as well as observe students using help to encourage an effective use of learning strategies. Finally, learners could be trained by teachers to use help options to their advantage (Hubbard, 2004).
From your reading of Levy, comment on one or more of the issues related to the practice dimension of CALL what you would want to take into consideration for your own classroom.
As Levy notes, “designing and using CALL materials effectively depends on setting clear learning goals, deciding which language skills and areas are to be targeted through CALL-based activities, and determining what types of activities are appropriate in achieving these goals”. If my students are the future English teachers, all of the skills are important. If they are students who will study abroad to English countries, listening, reading and writing are more occupy central places because of the need of learning. If my students take classes just for preparing short-time visiting to other countries, I’d like focus the training on speaking. If my students will use English as the second language in learning or working in the future, all the skills are equally essential because none of them is dispensable and the mastery of them are interdependent and mutually promotive.