IU SBC Fellows: Good Practices

Good Practice from Jennifer Liu, IU Bloomington

Title	Second-Year Chinese
Course or Project	C201 and C202 Chinese language
Audience	experienced
Active	Fall 2002, active
Background Information	Chinese is notoriously difficult for American learners, who are unaccustomed to dealing with a non-alphabetic orthographic system. On top of this, classroom limitations make the learning of Chinese even more challenging. Students typically find themselves placed in a mixed group of learners, with skills ranging from native-like to rudimentary. The classroom reality with students of mixed background and proficiency levels has greatly hindered the effectiveness of language instruction.
Teaching Challenge	I was trying to address the needs of various learners by developing exercises of different kinds, from which students can choose to work on areas of weakness (e.g., listening, reading, vocabulary, text, etc).
Good Practice	I make use of the multimedia and networking capability of Internet technology to generate a Web site which contains interactive exercises in the areas of text, vocabulary, grammar, listening comprehension and reading (see http://www.indiana.edu/~c201/demo). For example, flash movies were built to synchronize the text and audio input. The multimedia capability of the Web was used to stimulate interest and provide contextualization for a better understanding of the use of the target language (e.g., songs that recycle key words and structures were implemented). Simple script was written to track the performance of students and provide data for instructors’ analysis and remedial lessons.
Impact	My project has improved student learning by providing multi-sensory input and authentic context for the target information, by encouraging students to go beyond the classroom setting to practice their language skills, and by supplying them with various learning aids to enhance their understanding. All of these, I believe, contribute to their depth of learning. Since the online exercises provide instant feedback, students are encouraged to start practicing right after each session in class, rather than wait until the end of the week to crank out assignments. The scoring system also encourages risk-taking and hypothesis-making because students are not penalized if they make a mistake. As long as they make an effort to work on at least ten sections they are rewarded with 10 points, the weight assigned for homework exercises.
Assessment	During the stage of designing the prototype lesson, students were invited to test the Web site individually and provide feedback, which led to a change of the interface design and color scheme. During the implementation stage, mid-term and final evaluation of teaching was conducted to assess students’ general reaction to the instructional approach of the second-year Chinese class. Another survey using features in Oncourse was generated to elicit students’ comments on the specific features of the Web site. These responses indicate that the Web site has made an impact on students’ learning.
Keywords	Feedback, accessibility, allowing student choice, customizing assignments
Technical Format	Flash animation with interactivity, customized Web site, short audio
Relevant URLs	http://www.indiana.edu/~c201/demo

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