The Digital Language Learning Lab at UVic

It has been a while since my last report. I spent the past couple of years looking into the neural network of attention and how it is related to the perisylvian cortex and limbic system when processing another language. It is a follow-up, or rather prequel, to my book “Language Learning and the Brain” (Cambridge University Press, 2017). 

I am excited to report that a series of experiments are to commence in the second half of 2021 researching attention and processing using technology in second language acquisition. The experiments are run using a Virtual Reality learning platform developed by the Victoria based start-up Infusion Edutainment. The experiments will investigate the effectiveness of each tool, the platform features, as well as how attention is sustained over longer periods of time. 

Preliminary results will be reported later this year on this blog and in person at the next CALICO conference in 2022. 

Here is the long overdue post on the grammar project, I have carried out in the lab for the past three years. I think the last post was four years ago when the pilot study had been completed.

The grammar project had students come to the lab and practice prepositions. Students were intermediate learners of German at an A2 proficiency level. Each student had six sessions in the lab, one per week. Each week each student read a fairy-tale and then practiced comprehension by either using a multiple-choice format (MC) or a fill-in-the blanks format (FiB). These formats represent what in cognitive psychology is referred to as “maintenance rehearsal” (MC) and “elaborate rehearsal” (FiB). A pre-test and two post-tests were carried out, one in the FiB and one in the MC format. The study was repeated for reasons of validity.

All in all, the data of 47 Intermediate German language learners has been analyzed by compiling the data in two groups (MC and FiB) and using inferential statistics as well as a log that tracked every klick (MC) and word typed (FiB) of every learner. Results showed that the learners in both groups improved their scores in the post-tests compared to the pre-test. The MC group took less time to do so. According to the log, the time, the MC group practiced was about half of what the FiB group needed. Furthermore, the MC group improved the number of correct answers by the third practice session while the FiB group needed at least four practice sessions. However, the FiB activity outperformed the learners using the MC activity in both tests, although differences were only significant in the test using the FiB format.

What do we learn from this? If my students ask me how to practice prepositions, I ask them how much time they have to practice. The MC activity type should assist them to improve their knowledge of prepositions in a relatively short period of time. Using the FiB activity type, they need to put in more time and effort to see some improved results. However, they will likely improve their knowledge of prepositions more than with the MC activity.

This week I have been working on using NVivo to code the language used by UVic French students in a peer tutoring relationship with French students in Brazil. Under the direction of Dr. Catherine Caws, I have sorted their transcribed discussions into the categories of “language”, “instrument” and “task”. Through these categories, certain qualitative trends have become more evident, such as the type of metalanguage used by UVic students while helping the Brazilians, the strategies that they use, and the sorts of tools that they use for searching and correcting language errors. Below is a diagram illustrating a frequent word in that category of “instrument” and the contexts in which it was employed.

After identifying the vocabulary associated with each category, diagrams like this, as well as the frequency of their occurrences can be easily generated. This coding helps us to see from the context of their own dialogue, what technology these second language learners use as support.

~ Ryleigh