Addictive English

This survey gathered student opinions of American Language Academy's "English Mastery" High Intermediate Level. Participants consisted of five English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) students at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Data was collected in June 1998. Participants were 40% Japanese, 40% Thai, and 20% Turkish. They ranged in age from 19 to 35, 40% male and 60% female. Participants were of intermediate English proficiency. All had more than 10 hours of experience using computer assisted language learning (CALL) programs prior to this survey.

The survey consisted of a Likert-type rating scale, composed of 25 Likert-type items, on a five-point continuum. Students were asked to rate each statement with a response as follows: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = undecided, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly agree. All five students complete the survey after spending 60 minutes on the program. The program was run on a PC with a Pentium II processor. The table shows the survey statements and their corresponding sample mean response. The standard version of "English Mastery" included three modules-A, B, and C-which covered beginning level to high intermediate. All three focus on English grammar through the use of lesson texts, with over 100 written and recorded lessons and more than 1,000 exercises. The lesson texts centered on two main characters, a brother and sister named Anna and Tom, who were studying English. Anna and Tom were presented in a variety of contexts such as dialogs, telephone conversations, diary entries, letters, and stories.

As participants worked through Anna and Tom's various exercises, they practiced language skills using everyday language and vocabulary. Participants could listen to native speakers' voices, repeat after them, record their imitation, and compare the two versions. Further-more, participants could get additional practice with crossword and audio puzzles and cloze exercises which were popular among the participants.

Different exercises were provided throughout the seven sections of each unit: (1) AudioLab, (2) SoundSort, (3) AudioWrite, (4) WordLab, (5) CrossWord, (6) TextLab, and (7) TestLab. When getting started with the program, participants used the help button for directions. One participant said, "It seems designed for professional users like with Windows programs." Another commented on the instructions, "It's a lot to read." The investigator felt that the instructions were overwhelming some participants. In the middle of the survey a participant said, "I wish the instructions would speak like the audio lab." Another said, "The in-structions should give demonstrations. It would be more friendly."

When using the AudioLab, they liked how the text highlighted the learning points. "When the cursor moves with the audio voice, it teaches me the grammar point, so I know what I'm supposed to do." There was a slightly confusing part, however, when participants tried to select a specific audio clip. There was a "ruler" graphic below the script which was manipulated to select words to hear. As the cursor was moved along the "ruler" it was directly below the words that the participant wanted to hear. However, when the audio clip actually played, it did not exactly correspond with the words selected on the "ruler." Audio clips were sometimes a couple of words off. Most of the exercises were well liked. In the CrossWord exercises, participants said, "Very OK practicing," and "It's fun and there are many ways to cheat." In an AudioWrite exercise a participant became energized and motivated about half way through the exercise. In the middle she said, "This is fun! It's teaching me spelling and is a good exercise to make sure I learned it."

In the SoundSort exercises a participant said, "So you are re-structuring the text. I think this is useful for listening to make sure I got the story right." In the TextLab a participant felt it started out boring, but then became addictive. He said, "It got me!" Participants liked English Mastery.