Advanced learning technologies as a means of boosting spoken confidence and fluency of pre-service english teachers at the quarantine time

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Advanced learning technologies as a means of boosting spoken confidence and fluency of pre-service english teachers at the quarantine time

Oksana Handabura,

Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Foreign Languages Khmelnytskyi Humanitarian-Pedagogical Academy (Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine)

The article deals with the advanced learning technologies for developing spoken confidence andfluency ofpre-service English teachers at the quarantine time. The world faces the challenge to study and work staying at home. How do teachers and students manage to cope with issues of distance language learning?

The author gives the definition of advanced learning technologies, presents a short overview of the history of the development of CALL. Synchronous and asynchronous communication between learners and teachers in different contexts has been analyzed. Synchronous learning is online studies that are conducted with the aid of chat rooms, videoconferencing tools. Asynchronous learning can be carried out online and offline. It is coursework delivered by web, email, and message boards that are posted in online forums.

For synchronous learning the author suggests using videoconferencing with the help of Zoom, MS Teams, and Skype. It is quite effective to use screen share and voting system and group chats. During the video session by means of screen share teachers can show various materials from their device: files, audio, video. Voting systems and group chats stimulate discussions and debates, help students to express their points of view on the problem.

Talking about asynchronous learning, there are a lot of learning platforms that can be beneficialfor improving students ' spoken confidence andfluency, getting classes more interactive. One of them is Kahoot, an educational technology, based on creating learning games in the form of tests. Their aim is to assess the students ' level of knowledge, to conduct different kinds of discussion on a particular issue, to get a feedback.

For organizing and engaging students it is advantageous to exploit learning management systems. Google Classroom is in great request today. It empowers to create different assignments, share them with students and grade students' work electronically.

Key words: pre-service English teachers, advanced learning technologies, synchronous and asynchronous learning, videoconferencing tools, learning platforms, learning management systems.

Оксана ГАНДАБУРА,

кандидат педагогічних наук, старший викладач кафедри іноземних мов Хмельницької гуманітарно-педагогічної академії (Хмельницький, Україна)

ІННОВАЦІЙНІ ОСВІТНІ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ ЯК ЗАСІБ УДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ НАВИЧОК ВІЛЬНОГО УСНОГО МОВЛЕННЯ МАЙБУТНІХ УЧИТЕЛІВ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ МОВИ В УМОВАХ КАРАНТИНУ

У статті розглядаються інноваційні технології навчання для вдосконалення навичок вільного усного мовлення майбутніх учителів англійської мови під час карантину. Нині весь світ стоїть перед викликами вчитися та працювати дистанційно. Як викладачам та студентам вдається впоратися із проблемами дистанційного навчання іноземної мови?

Автор дає визначення інноваційних технологій навчання, представляє короткий огляд історії розвитку CALL (вивчання іноземної мови за допомогою комп'ютера) у різних контекстах. Синхронне навчання - це онлайн- навчання, яке проводиться за допомогою чатів, відеоконференцій. Асинхронне навчання може здійснюватися в режимах онлайн і офлайн. Це завдання, які розміщають в інтернеті, на вебфорумах та електронних дошках оголошень, надсилають на електронну пошту.

Для синхронного навчання автор пропонує використовувати відеоконференції за допомогою платформ Zoom, MS Teams, Skype. Досить ефективно використовувати систему обміну екранами та голосування, групові чати. Під час відеозанять за допомогою доступу екрана викладачі можуть показувати різні матеріали зі свого пристрою: файли, аудіо-, відеоматеріали. Системи голосування та групові чати стимулюють дискусії та дебати, допомагають студентам висловити свою думку щодо проблеми, яка обговорюється.

Якщо говорити про асинхронне навчання, то існує безліч навчальних платформ, які можуть бути корисними для вдосконалення навичок вільного усного мовлення студентів, надаючи заняттям більшої інтерактивності. Одна з них - Kahoot, освітня технологія, заснована на створенні навчальних ігор у формі тестів. Їхня мета - оцінити рівень знань учнів, провести різні види дискусій із певної проблеми, отримати зворотний зв'язок.

Для організації та залучення студентів до навчання досить корисно використовувати системи управління навчанням. Google Classroom нині дуже корисний. Він дозволяє створювати різні завдання, ділитися ними зі сту-дентами, оцінювати роботу студентів в електронному вигляді.

Ключові слова: майбутні викладачі англійської мови, інноваційні технології навчання, синхронне й асинхронне навчання, засоби відеоконференції, навчальні платформи, системи управління навчанням.

Problem statement

advanced learning technologies aquarantine

In March 2020 many countries have decided to close their schools, higher education institutions because of the Coronavirus (Covid-19). COVID-19 has had a profound impact on education all over the world. Most of the educational institutions try to keep up to the normal schedule by switching to online teaching. Many teachers and lecturers are facing with challenges of the remote learning: what online learning and testing platforms to choose, how to use them effectively for students, how to assess students' work, etc.

Advanced or digital educational technologies have been used in language teaching for a very long time. These technologies appeared in language education in the early 1980s with the advent of computer software for language learning. Nicky Hockly refers not only to language learning hardware (computers, tablets, laptops, mobile phones, etc.) and language learning software (programmes, blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc.) (Hockly, 2016: 4) [1], but also to how teachers and learners interact with each other and with these technologies.

Nowadays in the quarantine conditions the study of the effectiveness of advanced educational technologies for language learning has become urgent.

Relevant studies analysis

A lot of researchers have dedicated their studies to the use of advanced technologies in language learning. They provide a good basis for realizing the influence of such technologies on the language learning process. Depicting the attitude of teachers and students to the use of technology in the classroom, in 2001 Marc Prensky differentiates digital natives, aged 8 to 18, have been brought up with technology, while digital immigrants are older, they were not born in the digital world, having adopted to technology later (Marc Prensky, 2001: 1). In his study of learning technologies in language teaching Nicky Hockly uses the term learning technologies and its alternative CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning), but according to the researcher the latter term is not very relevant as nowadays learning is being carried out not only with help of computers, but also via mobile devices. However, acronym MALL (Mobile- Assisted Language Learning) is used, too (Hockly, 2016: 5). Mark Warschauer categorizes three phases of CALL: behavioristic CALL (language drills based on repetition), communicative CALL (based on communicative approach), and integrative CALL (based on using multimedia computers and the Internet) (Warschauer, 1996).

The aim of our article is to analyze different advanced learning technologies, which can be used for remote language teaching for pre-service English teachers.

Statement of basic materials

The early stage of computer-based language learning started in the middle of 1980s. Researchers described the three stages or approaches in the development of CALL (Warschauer, 1996; Bax, 2003). In the mid-1990s English language began to use digital tools in order to support both synchronous and asynchronous communication between learners in different contexts.

Synchronous learning involves online studies that are conducted with the aid of chat rooms, videoconferencing tools. This kind of learning can only happen online. Online communication helps learners stay in touch with their teacher and fellow students. It is called synchronous learning because the system allows students to ask their teacher or fellow students questions instantly through instant messaging.

On the other hand, asynchronous learning can be carried out online and offline. Asynchronous learning involves coursework delivered by web, email, and message boards that are posted in online forums. Students do not have access to instant messaging through this online forum. An advantage of asynchronous learning is that students re able to be self-paced (Pearson Distance Teaching Survival Kit, 2020).

Today, at distance teaching, synchronous text chat programmes are used by students and teachers in different locations to interact with each other. Payne and Ross (2005) have found out that students' oral competence could be indirectly improved by using online text chat rooms. Similarly, in discussion forums students are exposed to a wide range of language from other students and from other people, who are commenting or responding to similar topics. So they can learn from them by seeing the comments that they write, and improve their language at the same time.

During the quarantine time teachers have to transfer their teaching skills from the face-to-face classroom to a digital environment so that they can deliver effective lessons to their learners. Apart from online text chat rooms, videoconferencing tools, such as Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts, MS Teams, are very popular learning platforms among lecturers and pre-service English teachers. For example, more than 17 000 educational establishments, including 96% of the most prestigious universities in the United States, improve student learning using the Zoom system for virtual and blended classrooms, work, administrative meetings and for other purposes. They make live collaboration between classes easier and more effective when people have to stay at home. Videoconferencing tools give the opportunity to conduct live classes, to interact with students, developing students' listening and speaking skills, which often go together. All of these have screen sharing, chat and mute functions to enable live class interaction.

Lecturers can expand and enhance classroom activities with powerful teamwork tools, including session meeting rooms, content sharing, surveys, and group chats. Tracking of students' attendance and attention shows teachers who are interested in learning online. Lecturers create and modify video content by turning materials into easy-to-learn video lessons so students can learn at their own pace.

Students have very different achievement levels in spoken fluency and in terms of their level of grammar and vocabulary. Within those skills areas, there are also specific needs with regards to vocabulary, pronunciation, and certain areas of grammar. Online learning allows students to choose the resources they need for the specific skills and the specific areas within those skills they need, for vocabulary, for pronunciation, and for grammar. The range of resources that are available in online learning allow learners to create a level of individualisation and a path for their own learning that is very difficult to achieve in a face-to-face environment.

Pre-service English teachers sometimes lack the confidence to engage and communicate effectively in face to-face environment. The neutral online space allows them to spend time to think about their responses, and think about what they want to say. This is important in writing practise, as students often need to think about their responses before writing them down. With videoconferencing tools the online space can serve speaking skills very well, it is possible to set up conversations online with native speakers. This is either through closed networks, possibly set up by university, or many of the other websites that facilitate tandem learning. That is, if students are learning English, and someone else is learning Ukrainian, it is an opportunity for them to learn and exchange language together.

The other good thing about videoconferencing tools that allows for real-time communication is that these are often recorded, so students can go back and watch a recording, and record yourself talking, go back, and listen to that for their pronunciation, and for the vocabulary, and for the language use. And teachers in return have more chances to assess their students objectively, using recordings.

The research of Maki Hirotani shows that students using computers for learning produce more language overall than students in a face-to-face environment. These students produced utterances with richer vocabulary and sentence structure than those in face-to-face learning. They tended to notice their linguistic errors more than students in a face-to-face environment (Maki Hirotani, 2009).

How to boost spoken confidence and fluency of preservice English teachers using videoconferencing tools? First a teacher helps with technical issues, so the students are able to access the platform and builds a positive learning environment. So students can maintain their motivation and access all ofthe materials that they need to start learning. The teacher should be a moderator and help the students to interact with each other. It is called online socialization. The students should familiarize themselves with the netiquette of how to communicate with each other online. It is also a good way to help them feel their way into the course, and learn the basics of how to communicate online through the forums and through the discussions. It is important to be aware of when the teacher becomes an online tutor is that they are not always going to have control in the same way that they would in a face-to-face environment. And teachers will need to train themselves and their students on how to use such videoconferencing tools.

The main thing to bear in mind for teachers is that the pedagogy is important. And at the centre of everything, is the learner and what they are learning.

One more synchronous learning tool is screen sharing or desktop sharing. Screen sharing allows teachers to share digital material with their students. The teacher has the ability to show their students any media that is on their device without ever having to send any files: presentations, documents, and images, audio and even videos. What is more, this screen sharing software allows the students to not only view the material on the shared device, but also watch as the teacher interacts with it in real-time, navigating the interface and making changes. In their turn, students can share their screen to present their home assignments done. We suppose screen sharing is a very productive tool for distance learning.

It is worth mentioning interactive voting systems that help to discuss questions students have after reading the learning material before the video session. Such voting systems increase the level of interactivity during the sessions; stimulate discussions, helping students to improve their spoken skills.

At asynchronous learning students are given reading materials or videos and they are tested on their understanding through online tests or voting systems capable of asynchronous activities.

For boosting the scope of interactivity teachers can use not only videoconferencing tools, but such learning platforms as Kahoot. Kahoot is a game-based learning platform, used as an educational technology in schools and other educational establishments. To start working in this service, the teacher needs to register. They create their own learning game called Kahoot, which can be a multiple-choice quiz, an open-answer quiz or true or false questions, and students play these Kahoot games. The platform can be accessed via a web browser or the Kahoot app.

Such game forms of work can be used in training. The service offers three forms of game. The purpose, for which you are going to create the game, will help to determine the form: to determine the level of students' knowledge of a topic or the level of its understanding - a multiple-choice quiz or an open-answer quiz, to arrange a discussion on a particular issue, present an idea and get feedback - a discussion, to collect students' opinions on a particular problem - a survey.

When the teacher creates their own test, students join the test with their gadgets, they need to log in to the site and use the pin code of the game, which is specified by the teacher, they enter by their own name and join the game. The teacher presses the start. Questions appear on the screen, which must be answered by choosing a colour. After the test, the teacher can see the answers in the form of a diagram.

The service has several advantages: you can perform tasks on any device; you can set the amount of time; you can perform tests in groups or individually; you can set the number of points; you can duplicate and edit tests; the disadvantage is you need fast internet access.

In order to engage and organize the students, teachers can use different learning management systems. Some of them are Google Classroom, WordPress, MyLab and Mastering. The most popular, to our mind, is Google Classroom, which is a free web service, developed by Google for educational establishments, that makes easier to create, distribute, and grade students' assignments in a paperless way. The initial purpose of Google Classroom is to streamline the process of sharing materials between teachers and students.

Conclusions

To sum it up, we can assume that at the quarantine time teachers experience frustration while moving classes online, as they need to support the educational process even stronger. We describe some of the effective ways of organizing distance learning and online-classroom management.

The study of the advanced technologies that can be used boosting spoken confidence and fluency of pre-service English teachers shows that there is synchronous or asynchronous learning. For synchronous distance learning we can exploit videoconferencing tools, such as Zoom, MS Teams, Skype, which give the opportunity not only to conduct classes online, but also to share screen with students (different audio, video material, files) during the class, chat rooms and voting systems. These tools stimulate real-time communication and discussion, boost students' receptive skills.

As for asynchronous learning, teachers can work with various learning platforms. We suggest using a game-based learning platform Kahoot. It helps teachers to increase the scope of interactivity of their classes and to assess students' knowledge. One more helpful tool for distance learning is learning management systems, in particular Google classroom, which is quite effective in sharing materials with students and assessing students work.

All in all, we believe that nowadays a lot of different advanced technologies are provided to improve the spoken skills of the students, who are the future English teachers, while studying remotely.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Hockly Nicky. Focus on Learning Technologies. Oxford University Press, 2016. 167 p.

2. Prensky Marc. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. 2001. № 9. P. 1-6.

3. Warschauer Mark. Computer Assisted Language Learning: an Introduction. URL: http://www.ict4lt.org/en/ warschauer.htm (дата звернення: 16.06.2020).

4. Bax Stephen. CALL - Past, Present, and Future. System: An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics. 2003. № 31 (1). P. 13-28.

5. Pearson Distance Teaching Survival Kit. Books Online Journals. 2020. 15 p.

6. Payne J., Ross B. Synchronous CMC, working memory, and L2 oral proficiency development. Language Learning & Technology. 2005. № 9. P. 35-54.

7. Hirotani M. Synchronous Versus Asynchronous CMC and Transfer to Japanese Oral Performance. CALICO Journal. 2009. № 26 (2). P. 413-438.

REFERENCES

1. Hockly Nicky. Focus on Learning Technologies. Oxford University Press, 2016. 167 p.

2. Prensky Marc. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, 9, 2001. P. 1-6.

3. Warschauer Mark. Computer Assisted Language Learning: an Introduction. URL: http://www.ict4lt.org/en/ warschauer.htm (Last assessed: 16.06.2020).

4. Bax Stephen. CALL - Past, Present, and Future. System: An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics, 31 (1), 2003. P. 13-28.

5. Pearson Distance Teaching Survival Kit. Books Online Journals, 2020. 15 p.

6. Payne J. S., Ross B. M. Synchronous CMC, working memory, and L2 oral proficiency development. Language Learning & Technology, 9, 2005. P. 35-54.

7. Hirotani M. Synchronous Versus Asynchronous CMC and Transfer to Japanese Oral Performance. CALICO Journal, 26 (2), 2009. P. 413-438.

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