Why the Social in Sociocollaborative CALL Carla Meskill

Why the Social in Sociocollaborative CALL Carla Meskill University at Albany, State University of New York

CALL because we can

CALL because we can intrinsic rewards

CALL because we can intrinsic rewards communication with others

Why the social matters in CALL

All learning is socially mediated. Lev Vygotsky

• all human psychological processes are social in nature • human development emerges through social experience • language is essential tool of development -Valsiner & van der Veer, 2000

An essential, enduring quality of computers is Responsiveness

RESPOND: L. respondere "respond, answer to, promise in return, " from re- "back" + spondere "to pledge"

An essential quality of being human is Social Responsiveness

We are primordially, physiologically predisposed to responding to our environment…

and to one another…

and to screens…

Our responsiveness to screens First text,

Our responsiveness to screens First text, Then noise,

Our responsiveness to screens First text, Then noise, Then movement,

Our responsiveness to screens First text, Then noise, Then movement, Then simulated people,

Our responsiveness to screens First text, Then noise, Then movement, Then simulated people, Then Web 2. 0, social networking

What does this evolution say about our responsiveness?

Outside of language education, tailored responses – if you liked this, you’ll like this – used extensively in internet marketing. This new machine responsiveness makes information responsive to us as individuals.

Teacher responsiveness has only been recently recognized as a critical component to successful student learning, especially the learning of discourse norms

It is through language, verbal and the language of signs, that we experience responsiveness. It is through language in use with others to which we are even more fully responsive.

There is pleasure and satisfaction in meeting our communicative goals.

What does this say about language education with technology?

Skillful teaching of language. well orchestrated, authentic online communication with focus drawn to targeted forms and productive linguistic functions? Responsiveness = instructional conversations

What, after all, could be more responsive than an excellent educator and more capable peers?

Instructional Conversations

Direct Instructional Conversations (ICs) Online ICs for Language Learning Teacher models for imitation Teacher models for facilitation Teacher models for use and appropriation Elicits exact responses Encourages connections with background knowledge and experiences Encourages meaningful output while directing focus on form Skills-directed Thinking-directed Development-directed Easy to evaluate Encourages diverse performances Ongoing assessments as part of conversation Lock-step instruction Sequence of instruction responsive to learners and context Task-based sequencing within which sequencing responsive to learners Teacher-centered Student-centered with teacher structure and guidance Guided and independent practice following instruction Establish common foundations for understanding Guided student interactions with established focus No extension/expansion Extensive discussion Consistent emphasis on expansion of task/discussion Step-by-step mastery Active use of skills and knowledge as needed Active use of focal language in productive contexts Checks for understanding (IREs) Guided understanding with conversational responsiveness Simultaneous guidance in meaning and form during interaction Teacher assistance when requested Teacher assistance at teachable moments then fading Teacher assistance throughout with fading

Refocus on what excellent teachers do -the instructional conversations by which they teach. -instructional conversations that render our machines and screens optimally responsive.

Affordances of online instructional conversations. Think more carefully and complexly; . Refer and anchor talk by pointing, hyperlinking; . Compose more thoughtfully; . Access resources and support when both reading and composing; . Edit and revise; . Archive for future reference, as focus for lesson. Illustrate and illuminate effective instructional moves that include student turns; and. Repeat - a common instructional strategy in the live classroom - is replaced by saturating, linking, and highlighting.

Sociocultural CALL acknowledges the language growth and learning via recreational 2. 0.

A sociocultural view of CALL sees teacher-orchestrated instructional conversations with students, on screens as central

Pedagogical implications = extensive -machine now at the service of human instructional interactions -at the service of really excellent language educators

Sociocollaborative CALL = Humanware Teacherware to which learners are optimally responsive.

Sociocultural CALL is a powerful window into language learning processes and outcomes. Sources for broader and moment-by-moment curricular decision-making.

References Anthony, N. (2008). Foreign language teaching via audioconferencing: Teachers’ perspectives. (unpublished doctoral dissertation) University at Albany, State University of New York. Meskill, C. and Anthony, N. (2007) The language of teaching well with digital learning objects. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 3, 1: 79 -93. Valsiner, J. and van der Veer, R. (2000). The social mind. New York: Cambridge University Press.