Response Seven

Reading Prompt #7

*LEVY – Ch. 7 Practice

*BLACKBOARD - Grgurović, M. & Hegelheimer, V. (2007). Help Options and Multimedia Listening: Students' Use of Subtitles and the Transcript. Language Learning & Technology, 11(1), 45-66. 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?

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.

The article is a study of the use of subtitles and transcripts when using multi-media materials in the classroom; for the use of teachers using CALL materials and for the software designers who design them. The participants were 18 ESL college students in an Academic English Listening class. The students were divided into two groups: higher intermediate and lower intermediate. The conclusion to the study showed that students used subtitles more than transcripts. “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.” (Grgurovic and Hegelheimer, p. 61)
I believe this study was very effective. They looked at other studies using Multimedia Listening and Help options before they conducted their study. This gave them a framework to start from, and they were able to design their study without some of the problems the other studies faced. For example, Pujola’s study was unable to draw any concrete conclusions because of the idiosyncratic behavior of his participants. The study can also prove helpful for ESL CALL instructors in designing their curriculum, as well as software designers.
I would take into consideration the outcome of this study when designing curriculum for my own classroom. Although I have no teaching experience to draw from, the conclusion of the study and my growing knowledge of CALL materials, I believe the use of Multimedia Listening and Help options are invaluable for a Listening class. I would also use the conclusion of the study as a guide in learning a second language myself; incorporating the use of subtitles in my multimedia studies.
The article generates ideas such as how to look at other studies when coming up with a study of one’s own, how to incorporate multimedia listening into your classroom to teach listening and proficiency, and to guide students into using the help option. Most of all, the article outlined the effectiveness of subtitles in the classroom when teaching listening.

In Levy, his description of Listening through the use of technology showed that when students used annotations and sound bites of the passage to decipher a passage, they were able translate the passage. With more options to use annotations the learners had a higher opinion of the exercise. Those with fewer annotations or none at all, had a lower opinion of the activity.