ERIC Number: EJ848008
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Sep
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0742-7778
EISSN: N/A
An Empirical Investigation of whether Authentic Web Sites Facilitate Intermediate-Level French Language Students' Ability to Learn Culture
Dubreil, Sebastien; Herron, Carol; Cole, Steven P.
CALICO Journal, v22 n1 p41-61 Sep 2004
This investigation examined the effects of authentic Francophone web sites on cultural learning at the intermediate level. Fifty-four students "surfed" eight web sites. A pre-posttest design assessed long-term gains in culture and the learning of practices, products, and perspectives from exposure to a curriculum with Internet activities. Eight posttask tests measured the students' ability to retain information and to make inferences. A questionnaire assessed perceptions of learning. Results indicated a significant gain in cultural knowledge with posttest scores significantly higher than pretest scores. Students learned significantly more products than practices over the semester. On the short-answer and free-recall portions of the posttask tests, students' ability to make inferences or retain information did not improve significantly in either an advance organizer (AO) or a non-AO condition. The students believed that the web sites featured significantly more cultural products than practices. Results support using the Internet to teach culture and its potential to emphasize cultural products. (Contains 4 tables.)
Descriptors: Web Sites, Investigations, Academic Achievement, Advance Organizers, Scores, Internet, French, Inferences, Instructional Effectiveness, Pretests Posttests, Task Analysis, Curriculum, Cultural Differences, College Students, Second Language Instruction
Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium. 214 Centennial Hall, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666. Tel: 512-245-1417; Fax: 512-245-9089; e-mail: info@calico.org: Web site: http://calico.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A