Part+3

Unit Six Getting Ready for the ThesisI. The Rubrics of ResearchReview relevant sections from Unit One.•Areas of research•Steps of research•Structure of the thesis•Bibliographical listingII. The Thesis Proposal and OutlineMultimedia Computer-assisted Language Learning and the Cultivation of Students’ Autonomous Learning Ability: A Case Study in Beijing Forestry UniversityI. Background and Research PlanSince the first computer teaching system was designed in America in 1958, the application of computer in education has had the history of near 50 years. The advancement of computer technology has to a great extent pushed the development of foreign language teaching and learning, giving birth to computer-assisted language learning (CALL). The development of CALL mainly experienced three stages. The first computers used for language learning were large 1950s’ mainframes that were only available at research facilities on university campuses. And the earliest and most significant application of computers to language learning was the Programmed Logic/Learning for Automated Teaching Operation (PLATO) system developed in 1959 by the University of Illinois. In the 1970s and 1980s computer technology experienced a rapid growth. One focus of CALL research during this period was videodisc technology. Macario, Montevidisco and Interactive Digame were examples of videodisc programs designed for language learning. From the 1990s the development of computer technology has been characterized by multimedia and network technology, which has benefited almost every area including language learning. As the integration of multimedia technology and the practice of foreign language teaching, multimedia computer-assisted language learning (MACLL) came into being, boosting the improvement of foreign language teaching.Although CALL in China has developed for just over 20 years, much progress has been made and some teaching soft wares designed according to our own teaching situation have reached the international level due to the emphasis on heuristic methods. Since the first CALL class was opened in Shanghai by Tim Johns from Birmingham University in January, 1984, CALL has been given increasing attention to in foreign language teaching, especially in English teaching, and contributed a lot to the reform of English teaching in China. With the support of government and the effort of many34English teachers and technology personnel engaged in research of MCALL many excellent soft wares for language learning have been designed at the turn of the century and have been improved a lot in terms of quality.Due to the rapid development of computer technology the focus of research in CALL has been in a constant state of change in the last five decades. In terms of technology the concerns of research has shifted from hypertext and hypermedia to multimedia. And in terms of the effect of CALL in language teaching and learning concerns in early years about whether or not computers should be used in the classroom for learning language have been replaced by the concern about how computers should be used and for what purpose. The survey conducted by Levy (1997) in 1991 voices a number of concerns to do with CALL. According to the survey one category of research paper concerns various aspects of CALL such as learning strategies and teacher and learner attitudes towards CALL. The second category of papers concerns the principle in helping to shape the role of CALL such as principles of cognitive processes that can be used in the design of CALL programs. The third focus of research is models such as those to examine the effects of online courses on teaching and learning. Models, in turn, support the fourth concern－paradigms. For example, the paper written by Chapelle (1997) addresses this topic to discuss approaches to CALL, borrowing from methodologies adopted by other disciplines. The fifth category of research papers deals with problem solving. For example, Sinyor (1997) describes several sources of errors made by students of Italian and theirproblem-solving behaviors. Offering tips and resources, as the sixth concern, is a common theme in many CALL articles as old resources become less useful and new ones are introduced. Testing is also one of the concerns of research in CALL.In China some current focuses in research of CALL are the same as those abroad. Many papers deal with students’ learning strategies such as the paper written by Li Ping (2005) which discusses the relations between CALL and the cultivation of students’ metacognitive ability. Exploring problems and offering suggestions is also a common theme in many research papers, in which the existing problems of multimedia-based teaching model are explored and advice is put forward. Despite the similarities of concerns with those abroad, China has its own distinctive situation. In April 2003, the Ministry of Education formally started “High Education Teaching & Learning Quality and Reform Program”. College English reform is the second key reform in the four projects of “Quality Program” (Zhi Liang Gong Cheng). According to the requirement of the Ministry of Education many universities have started reforms. An important one is on the network- and multimedia-based teaching models in English teaching. Therefore, one major concern of the research of CALL nowadays is the effects of reforms on the application of network or MCALL to English teaching. Some papers describe the process of reforms in particular universities, including the program designing, practice and evaluation (e.g. Zheng 2005). Some papers explore advantages of MCALL over traditional teaching methods and advantages of particular course wares like New Horizon College English (e.g. Zhang 2006). Other concerns of research include the contrastive35study on traditional teaching model and multimedia teaching model (e.g. Wen et al. 2005) and the process of assessment which gives much support to network (e.g. Li 2005).Though many papers report the application of MCALL in English teaching, few of them examine the effect of MCALL on learning styles and strategies such as autonomous learning ability through particular cases. Dose MCALL really improve students’ autonomous learning ability as people have expected? To what extent has MCALL promoted students’ autonomous learning ability? And are there any problems existing in the application of MCALL? This paper will study the use of New College English course ware in Beijing Forestry University and try to find out whether it effectively promotes students’ autonomous learning ability. Then it will give some suggestions to potential problems, therefore to improve the effectiveness of the application of the course ware. Two questionnaires will be designed. One is for students who have used the course ware to examine their autonomous learning ability and the potential problems. And the other is for teachers who are responsible for this course to learn their role in promoting students’ autonomous learning ability and their suggestion to improve this course.II. OutlineChapter One IntroductionChapter Two Literature ReviewChapter Three Analysis of the Course Ware of New College EnglishChapter Four Data Collection: Two questionnaires are designed to learn aboutstudents’ ability of autonomous learning. (One is for students and theother is for teachers)Chapter Five Data AnalysisChapter Six Problems and SuggestionsChapter Seven ConclusionIII. References:Brown, D. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Beijing: FLTRP, 2001. Brown, H. D. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. 3rd ed. Beijing: FLTRP, 2002.Beatty, K. Teaching and Researching Computer-assisted Language Learning. Beijing: FLTRP, 2005. Chapelle, C. CALL in the year 2000: still in search of research paradigms. Language Learning and Technology 1: 19-38.Cohen, A. D & Weaver, S. J. Styles-and Strategies-Based Instruction: A teachers’ Guide. Beijing: FLTRP, 2006.Gardner, D & Miller, L. Establishing Self-Access: From Theory to Practice. Shanghai: SFLEP, 2002. Levy, M. Computer-assisted Language Learning: Context and Conceptualization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.Nunan, D. Second Language Teaching and Learning. Beijing: FLTRP, 2001.Rivers, W. M. (ed.) Interactive Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Tarone, E. & Yule, G. Focus on the Language Learner. Shanghai: SFLEP, 2000.胡隆主编《计算机辅助外语教学――多媒体和网络的应用》。