Final Assessment #2

The Effectiveness of Second-Language Learning in a Blended-Learning Environment:

Research Proposal















Sheena Abboud
#23939101
University of British Colombia
ETEC 500 65C
Instructor: Sunah Cho
April 11, 2012









Introduction
As a French Immersion teacher with interests in the implementation of
educational technologies in my classroom, I am curious to know the implications of a
blended-learning environment on the acquisition of a second language. Much of the
research on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) focuses on the need for interaction in
the target language, which would seem difficult in an online setting. However, I am
looking to find an effective way in which students would benefit, and their proficiency in
a second language would increase, through a blended-learning language environment.

Statement of the Problem and Research Question
Through this action research study, I am setting out to determine in which ways
do emerging blended-learning modalities affect the acquisition of French as a second
language. In comparing two classes of beginning language learners, one traditional face-
to-face class and one blended-learning class, I will determine which environment yields
students with higher language proficiency.

Literature Review
This study is based on the participants proficiency of a newly learned second
language. In order to better understand the process of second language learning, I
based my research on theories of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). In his article
Principles of instructed language learning (2005), Rod Ellis offers a framework of 10
principles that are important in the success of second language learning. He based these
10 principles on various theories of SLA from researchers such as Krashen (1981), Hatch
(1978), and Foster (2001). In developing these principles, Ellis (2005) considered the
importance of balancing the development of both implicit and explicit language by
offering to the students ample opportunities for authentic language input and output
through interactive communicative tasks. Ellis also considers the need for the
personalization of learning in order to maintain student motivation as well as for free
construct evaluations of language. I considered this framework in evaluating three
different online language-learning environments.

Task-Based Language Teaching is Lai, Zhao, and Wang (2011) method of
engaging students in authentic communicative tasks when learning Chinese as a Foreign
Language. In their study, Task-Based Language Teaching in Online Ab Initio Foreign
Language Classrooms, Lai et al. gauge students perceptions of an online language-
learning environment through surveys and interviews. Their study was very much in line
with many of Ellis principles as it allowed for student interaction with authentic Chinese
resources as well as ample opportunities for input and output of the target language
through various task-basked activities. Students reported having a positive perception of
the online language-learning environment, however, here Lai et al. identified challenges
was in affording students opportunities for interaction and paralinguistic cues. Lina Lee,
however, had solutions to these problems.

In her study, Fostering Second Language Oral Communication Through
Constructivist Interaction in Desktop Videoconferencing (2007), Lee focuses on providing
to Spanish language students the opportunity to engage in interactive communicative
tasks with expert language speakers via videoconferencing software. Like Lai et al., this
communication was guided by task-based activities that the two, student and expert
speaker, had to work through together in order to solve a problem. This
videoconferencing project addresses Lai et al.s challenge of students not partaking in
enough interactive and collaborative tasks, and the video aspects allows for the
participants to process paralinguistic cues. This study is also in line with Ellis 10
principles as it allows for the development of implicit and explicit knowledge, and it
offers opportunity for the input and output of language through conversation. However,
it is difficult to assess the success of this project as students only participated in the
videoconferences twice over the length of the study.

Fall, Adair-Hauck, and Glisan (2007) focused more closely on assessment in their
study Assessing Students Oral Proficiency: A Case for Online Testing. By creating a bank
of online communicative questions that students would then record their responses too,
Fall et al. offered to the Pittsburg Public School district common assessments to use for
all second language learners. This project, developed over four years, does miss a few of
Ellis key principles, however. Firstly, the questions are posed in English, which does not
allow for the input required to have an authentic language task. Secondly, the students
are responding to questions, which would likely require a formulaic answer, not
allowing for free-constructed assessment of their implicit language knowledge.

In considering this set of articles, it is clear that some research has been done in
the area of second language blended-learning environments, however, I hope to
respond to some of the gaps in the current research in my proposed action research
study.

Methodology
This study involves two Grade 7 classes in the Late French Immersion program in
one Calgary Board of Education school, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, as well as one same-
level class of native French speakers in Besancon, France. The two school boards are
beginning to work collaboratively in order to improve the CBEs French Immersion
program and Besancons English Language program. The CBE students will be placed in
two groups: one class will be a blended-learning environment, incorporating online
aspects for learning, the other class will follow more traditional means of beginning
French language learning. One of the CBE classes will be participating interactively with
the students at Besancon, while the other class will act as the control group, providing
comparative insights into the effectiveness of the blended-learning environment.



Participants

The students of two Late Immersion Grade 7 classes will form the convenience
sampling for this study. Projected enrollment for the 2012-2013 school year is
approximately 21 students per class at a CBE school. Of the 42 students, a small
sampling may have had prior instruction in French as a Second Language in Grades 4 to
6. Both classes will have equal French instruction from two teachers; one who teaches
Math and Science, the other, teaching French Language Arts and Social Studies.

Procedure and Timeline
Beginning in June 2012, both Calgary and Besancon teachers will start their work
in preparing for this study in the new school year. Calgary teachers will begin by
partaking in three professional development workshops on employing Intensive French
strategies. Calgary and Besancon teachers will collaborate on developing appropriate
conversational tasks for their students to accomplish in an online setting either via email
or videoconferencing. Calgary teachers will design long-term plans and lessons that will
be feasible in both the classroom and online environment. Calgary teachers will also
design common language rubrics in order to be clear on assessment practices
throughout the year.

At the beginning of the 2012 school year, the months of September and October
will be dedicated to students becoming familiar with common French vocabulary and
current sayings in strictly oral forms. This form of instruction will be very structured,
involving teacher modeling phrases, questioning students on their understanding of the
phrases, and students applying learned phrases to their lives. Students will work in this
intensive oral communicative method with both French language teachers during the
first 6 8 weeks of the school year. In the following two months, students will begin
working in their subject areas (Math, Science, Social Studies), and continue working on
with the intensive French method during their French Language Arts classes, which
occur for one 50-minute period per day. During the month of November, students will
slowly begin working on reading and writing tasks.

Once students have developed a working, communicative knowledge of French,
their language proficiency will be assessed using the Diplme dtudes en langue
franaise (DELF) Junior A1 test. This initial test will take place in December 2012, prior to
the holiday break. Students will complete the four components of the test over two
days.

In January 2013, students in the blended-learning class will begin their
interactions with the students in Besancon. Their initial tasks will include basic
introductory videoconferencing sessions working progressively towards more writing
tasks through email interactions. Students in this blended-learning environment will also
begin referencing online resources and completing and submitting work via the online
management system. At this same time, students in the traditional classroom will
continue working in the intensive French method as they work through the same course
content at the blended-learning class. Students proficiency will be assessed again in
March 2013 and June 2013 using the DELF Junior A1 test. As there are multiple versions
of this test available, students will not be responding to the same test questions, but the
level of the test will be the same at all three testing periods.

Data Collection and Analysis
During this action research study, students interactions within the classroom
through questions and the application of learned phrases will provide formative
assessment to the teachers. Throughout the study, teachers will collect samples of
student conversations and writing samples to analyze and assess their progression in
language development. The DELF Junior A1 scores will provide concrete data from both
classes, which will be compared in order to analyze the efficiency of the blended-
learning environment. The DELF is administered by the International Centre for French
Studies for Frances Ministry of Education, and is therefore a normed test free of any
teacher subjectivity. The specific tests that will be used for the study are adapted for use
in schools. The DELF Junior is geared towards students who are 13+ years of age. The A1
(Basic) designation of the test refers to the level of proficiency being assessed based on
the Common European Framework of Language Reference.

Ethical Considerations
In adherence with the CBEs Administrative Regulation 1064 Recording and
Publishing Student Images and Work (2007), the parent or guardian of the participants
will be required to sign the Consent to Post or Publish Student Information and Work
form which will be distributed by the teacher researchers. The purpose of this
regulation is to permit the collection of photographs, video footage, and student work
samples for use in an educational program as well as being in compliance the Freedom
of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Teacher researchers will also ensure that
teachers and students at the Besancon school is aware of this act and will not share any
information without the consent of the participant and their parent/guardian.

Significance of the Proposed Research
The results of this action research will be beneficial to second language teachers
in determining an effective way to structure their language program. If the results show
that students learn more effectively in the blended-learning environment, teachers and
district specialists can begin working collaboratively on creating resources and making
connections with more native speakers of the target language. In considering the
theoretical framework, having a blended-learning environment could potentially afford
to students more authentic and whole language learning experiences.






References
Calgary Board of Education (2007). Administrative Regulation 1064 - Recording and
Publishing Student Images and Work. Retrieved from
http://www.cbe.ab.ca/policies/policies/AR1064.pdf

Centre international dtudes pdagogiques (2012). DELF - Diplme d'tudes en langue
franaise. Retrieved from http://www.ciep.fr/delfdalf/index.php

Ellis, R. (2005). Principles of instructed language learning. System (33)2, 209-224.
Retrieved March 23, 2012, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0346251X05000138

Fall, T., Adair-Huack, B., & Glisan, E. (2007). Assessing students oral proficiency: A case
for online testing. Foreign Language Annals (40)5, 377-406. Retrieved March 23,
2012, from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2007.tb02865.x

Foster, P. (2001). Rules and routines: a consideration of their role in task-based language
production of native and non-native speakers. In: Bygate, M., Skehan, P., Swain, M.
(Eds.), Language Tasks: Teaching, Learning and Testing. Longman, London, pp. 75
97.

Hatch, E. (1978) Apply with caution. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 2, 123143.

Krashen, S. (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.
Blackwell, Oxford.

Lai, C., Zhao, Y., & Wang, J. (2011). Task-based language teaching in online ab initio
foreign language classrooms. The Modern Language Journal (95)Supplementary
Issue, 81-103. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01271.x

Lee, L. (2007). Fostering second language oral communication through constructivist
interaction in desktop videoconferencing. Foreign Language Annals (40)4, 635-
649. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2007.tb02885.x