EdTech'98 Proceedings: Steele - Japan on a web site

Japan on a web site Judy Steele Center for Japanese Language, Waseda University, Japan

Language is part of the whole culture, and the use of realia in learning programs takes the learner on an exciting, stimulating, joyful journey into the unknown. A fast track entry into a foreign land. Online delivery makes this learning experience widely available to many people rather than just a few. This article describes a project in learning Japanese, being developed for online and CD-ROM delivery. The project draws upon cross cultural cooperation, and expertise in distance education. We outline: the processes of collecting authentic materials for socio-linguistic contextualised learning programs, avoiding being intrusive or invasive upon privacy the advantages and disadvantages of working within the country of the target language, from technical and social perspectives the selection and use of suitable technical equipment requirements for support personnel and team members an educational plan, itemising objectives and anticipated outcomes

Introduction

Language is part of the whole culture and the use of realia in learning programs takes the learner on an exciting, stimulating, joyful journey into the unknown. A fast track entry into a foreign land. Online delivery can now make this learning experience widely available to many people.

Planning for a learning program includes the selection and use of suitable technical equipment for the collection which does not effect the result, i.e. appear intrusive, as balanced against the ethics of privacy invasion is a delicate ongoing choice. Techniques for this type of material collection have to be developed. The advantages and disadvantages of working within the country of the target language from both technical and social aspects are a consideration.

Language as part of the culture

One of the greatest adventures in life is visiting a foreign country. From the time of Marco Polo and his entourage inching their way across the Gobi Desert to the modern day traveler dropped suddenly into the unknown environment, frequently dependent on tour guides, travel companies and guided tours, cut off from the reality of the new arena by a thousand little comforts and concessions, human beings have battled with the eternal conflict of longing to see what is on the other side of the hill and the equally strong desire to remain secure and safe within the boundaries of the known environment.

With clever planning, effective presentation and in-depth collection of real life material, the use of highend technology can help to bridge this gap in the area of language acquisition and cross cultural understanding. The unwritten and unspoken rules of the target society including body language, manners and potentially offending actions are absorbed along with the language material.

Fast track

Whether on a trip overseas for business or pleasure, the traveler as opposed to the tourist has definite needs depending on the nature, purpose and objectives of the travel as well as the varying degrees of sensitivity, awareness and flexibility inherent in each individual cross cultural information being built into this type of learning experience, minimises culture shock and encourages confidence in interaction. This then becomes exponential with the traveler gaining confidence in the new surroundings, more in control and able to take positive steps to access the target society.

Collection of materials

The definition of realia being real life material, it is critical that the presence of the observer does not effect the outcome. This is one of the most stringent and hardest points to control. Possible effects are, visually, as soon as people see a camera they tend to either pose, change body language, facial expressions, stop talking, shy away, cover their face and become self conscious or all of the above.

One of the best places to photograph people is in crowds at festivals when people are too busy and too preoccupied to care, enjoying themselves, relaxed and happy. One method is to focus the camera first at the same distance in another direction, swing quickly, refocus fast and click.

Sound is easier if the equipment is small but the problem in this instance is background noise. A zoom microphone can be useful if concealed. Elderly people recounting their life experiences are excellent subjects. They have lived through so much that the presence of recording equipment is inconsequential.

They are delighted that anyone might be interested, they are enthusiastic to help young learners and essentially delighted that other nationals are making such efforts as to learn their language.

For video recording, a video camera with a screen is excellent as the camera is pointed at a 90 degrees away from the observer and the object frequently is unaware that filming is taking place. This is particularly useful at festivals where the camera can be held up at arms length to catch the action with the screen tilted downwards.

Ethics

At what point do we draw the line? Every situation is different and after some discussion the rule of thumb that was used is this: What was spoken out in public within earshot of others would be all right to tape.

In a situation where the microphone was concealed at the front desk of a hotel, staff were aware of its presence, and pleased to cooperate. In the case of photographs in a location where access may be restricted, permission was requested with an explanation of the research purpose. In almost all cases permission was given. Examples are the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the interior of Temples and religious sites.

For taking videos, the best subjects are the professionals. Buskers, street hawkers salespeople and guides. Their voices are well projected, clearly modulated the accent and pronunciation and grammar is good, the spoken word is frequently accompanied by action, as in the case of jugglers and they don't react to being taped.

Material already collected to-date covers a wide range of activities and is being constantly extended and updated.

Objectivity

The longer we are with them the more we change. Once the effective filter sets in place it becomes increasingly important to maintain an objective approach and keep in mind the original educational aim. By speaking the language and understanding the culture, that in itself confines us within its own boundaries.

Away from the home environment the collector has by necessity to negotiate with the target culture for all needs and support and work within what is available. What is available is not always adequate to get the job done. Technical information, advice and downloads as well as considerable moral support has come down the email from many countries.

There is a constant difficulty in accessing suitable work stations for email, Internet access as well as scanners and printers. Not having a permanent base and working on the move limits the amount of equipment which can be carried over and above the essential camera, sound recording equipment, VCR, extra film, batteries etc. For still photographs a tripod is an advantage.

However the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. The material is on tap, totally available, vibrant and alive, a never ending kaleidoscope of movement and sound just waiting to be captured, digitised, ordered and zapped onto the Net.

The energy, help, support and encouragement from the Japanese people, delighted that other countries want to learn their language, can not be underestimated and through this considerable rare and valuable material has been collected.

Planning

A detailed project plan has been submitted to the Australia-Japan Foundation and has been accepted for funding support at the time of writing (June 1998).

Delivery mode

The most brilliant teacher, with years of experience in effective language teaching , using well selected interesting stimulating material, modern language acquisition methodology, diligent lesson planning, using up-dated equipment, working within a supportive creative environment in suitable classrooms can effectively work with only a ratio of 1:10 learners and then the most brilliant lesson is gone in a flash.

With computer based learning material, the cost effective ratio changes dramatically. The completed lesson, whether available on the Internet, a LAN network or CD-ROM, or all three together, can be available for use and re-use on call by any number of users. For this reason alone the quality of the product must be of the highest quality.

Requirements for hardware and software

Supplied by Andrew Gilbert, Nichiai Computers
Hardware
The main machine should be an Apple Power Mac G3. This is the latest and greatest from Apple and I would recommend the version with the 300MHz CPU and 256MB of RAM. Because you will be doing so much work with video, you will need a very large hard disk capacity so I have included in the price two 4 GB disks. But just to make sure that nothing will ever happen to your files I think you should use an external "Removable Storage " device called an Iomega Jaz. This will not only protect all your files in case of actual computer failure but it also means that your Hard Drive will not be filling up and so wasting your investment.
The monitor will be an "Iiyama 21" with 1600x1200 resolution which is recommended by the leading computer magazine as one of the best around. Its picture is very crisp and it helps that we get these monitors directly from the manufacturer.
The single most expensive component is the Targa 2000 Pro. This card has integrated audio capture of up to 48 kHz and is designed for true professional video editing solutions .It supports Composite and S-Video inputs and outputs and can capture 720x486 NTSC TV inputs (720x576 for PAL). I have not been able to confirm yet whether the video card that comes with the Apple is actually required. If it is not needed then of course this will reduce the price. For added clarity I have included a Creative Labs Sound card with Altec Lansing Speakers for playback purposes.
The CD Recorder is from Yamaha CDR400tx and comes with the Iomega Jaz drive, as detailed above. The machine writes at 4 speed while reading at 6 speed. The CD recorder software makes recording very simple and can generate CDs in almost all the formats used in the world today.
Software
I have found that FrameMaker from Adobe is as much of a product as PageMaker as it includes almost everything that PageMaker does but adds powerful options for publishing on CD-ROM and HTML for the Internet.
The package called Director 6 Multimedia Studio from Macromedia is regarded as the best product for creating Internet and Hybrid CD+Internet applications with drag and drop behaviors, live Web authoring , 120 Sprite channels and streaming Shockwave. So if you decide on the Web as another outlet for your applications then this will be very useful in creating pages including Shockwave movies.
Software would include regular features plus Japanese word programs in rubi and a wide variety of fonts as well as Adobe Premiere + upgrade from Photoshop LE to Photoshop 4.0
Other equipment
Other hardware would be scanner and colour printer. MPEG VCR and Digital camera. Sound recording equipment which is light and portable while at the same time has the potential to record at high quality with a good zoom microphone. Access to sound recording room is necessary.

Personnel

Personnel need to be enthusiastic, mutually cooperative and to some extent computer literate and language orientated. Team members would include helpers for scanning, digitising visuals onto a data base , editing and cataloguing sound tapes and cataloguing videos.

Other personnel would include actors and graphic artists. Language personnel would need to be at least partly computer literate. Computer Personnel would need to be at least interested in or knowledgable about languages as such and how they work.

We have a supportive environment and a good team together. We trust each other. We get started on the presentation and while we work in together in that team we get really creative. As the presentation itself is part of the entire process, it will keep on developing (Christopher Johansson, 1997).

Educational plan

With something like 40 kg of authentic audio-visual material which includes photographs, cassette tapes, video tapes and a wide variety of printed matter. Already collected, categorised, and indexed, a valuable language resource has been created. This will be transformed into USER orientated needs based interactive online programs incorporating a variety of learning styles and strategies. Feedback collected will be input into the program with the end to producing CD-ROM material.

The objective is to work in modules originally at two levels of fluency. There is no limit to what can be offered, because everything is in real life inter-linked so can it be on the Web. The web site can easily be extended into specialist areas, e.g., architectural designs of old style Japanese houses. Click in for an update report on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) routes, we cant promise to book your seat BUT we can let you know travel times, in Japanese and English to check your reading ability.

Japanese for Special purposes can extend out to the tourist industry, agricultural exchange programs, a guided tour around an Ukiyoe Museum, or a Sumo Tournament.

Conclusion

With a supportive environment, adequate equipment a good team and sufficient funding, we can build a template which can be used for the teaching of any language. It will be a national asset and can be produced with the language of instruction being not only English but also any one of the many languages spoken in Australia.

This project has attracted funding from the Australia-Japan Foundation. Other sponsors have not yet been approached. A web site pilot is online at [http://stunt1.meb.uni-bonn.de/jlt/index.html]. We are looking for a location for further development of this project.

Project: Collection and planning of authentic materials for socio-linguistic learning programs for online and CD-ROM delivery focusing first on language.
Project planning and materials development: Judy Steele, Researcher, Center for Japanese Language, Waseda University 1995-1997. judy@mail.jtech.net. Address at 12 Oct 2008: jsteele@bigpond.net.au
Academic support and cultural overview: Professor Yoshikazu Kawaguchi, Center for Japanese Language, Waseda University.
Technical planning and projection: Christopher Johansson, University of Bonn, Germany.
Technical advice and support: Dr Geoffrey Morrison, British Telecom, UK. Hardware and software requirements: Andrew Gilbert, Nichiai Computers, An Irish-Japanese Company.
With generous help and assistance from many Japanese people, in particular the City of Ago, Mie Prefecture.
Please cite as: Steele, J. (1998). Japan on a web site. In C. McBeath and R. Atkinson (Eds), Planning for Progress, Partnership and Profit. Proceedings EdTech'98. Perth: Australian Society for Educational Technology. http://www.ascilite.org.au/aset-archives/confs/edtech98/pubs/articles/steele.html

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