A usabilidade e a elaboração de materiais para o ensino de inglês mediado por computador

Abstract

Este trabalho apresenta implicações para a preparação de materiais para o ensino mediado por computador, constatadas através de uma pesquisa na qual um teste de usabilidade foi aplicado a uma atividade de compreensão textual em inglês como LE. O conceito de usabilidade foi dividido em usabilidade de design -com foco na superfície do material -e usabilidade pedagógica -concentrada na apresentação de feedback e de estratégias de leitura. Cinco alunos iniciantes de inglês leram um texto e responderam a perguntas de compreensão usando a atividade mediada por computador. Esse material fornecia desempenho assistido na forma de dicionário acoplado ao texto, perguntas de compreensão com respostas abertas, e vários tipos de feedback ativados automaticamente. Os dados foram coletados por meio de auto-relato dos sujeitos, observação anotada e questionário pós-teste. Os resultados revelaram que os alunos -através do desempenho assistidoconstruíram sentido de um texto que estava além de sua competência lingüística. This paper reports on an investigation in which usability testing was applied to a computer-mediated reading comprehension task. The concept "usability" was divided into design usability -focusing ont he surface of materialsand instructional usahility -focusing on the presentation of feedback and reading strategies. Five beginning EFL students were selected and asked to read a text and answer comprehension questions using the CALL activity. This activity provided the subjects with assisted performance through an online dictionary, open-answer comprehension questions, and different types of feedback, automatically activated by the system. Data were collected through think aloud protocol, researcher's notes and after-task questionnaire. The results showed that students, through assisted performance, were able to construct meaning from a text that was beyond their linguistic competence. The implications of the study for the preparation of CALL materials are also presented and discussed.1 Doutorando do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Informática na Educação da UFRGS.

Pedagogical Usability: A Theoretical Essay for E-Learning

“…The author alleges that the pedagogical usability is more restricted compared with the proposed activity, and that the educational materials shall be developed according to the student. It is observed that the emphasis needs to be on what deals with the pedagogical preparation, so that all actions shall point to the main purpose, whereas a low pedagogical usability affect the learning processes (VETROMILLE- CASTRO, 2003). An author observation is that the pedagogical usability is consolidated through the feedback provided to the student, considering the importance of the moment and the kind of activity proposed, among other pedagogical aspects that constitute this bias.…”

From Learning Objects to Language Learning Objects

“…Thus, a LO that has granularity that permits reusability and interoperability (these characteristics will be approached next) in the use of the resource at a level that is relevant to the learning process can be considered as having adequate granularity. In other words, the reusability and interoperability of a LO for language learning, from a pedagogical perspective, will fundamentally attend to the principles of CLT (Canale & Swain, 1980;Ellis, 1999Ellis, , 2005 and pedagogical and design usability (Vetromille-Castro, 2003) without ignoring adequate technical principles. The importance of acquiring these new teaching skills as well as the comprehension of how technical aspects can influence learning/teaching had already been mentioned in 2005, by Hampel & Stickler in Compton (2009, p. 73):…”

“…We argue that it will be necessary for the development of these objects to be grounded theoretically in their pedagogical aspect. Furthermore, they will have to contemplate the principles of Pedagogical Usability (PU) and Design Usability (DU) (Vetromille-Castro, 2003), which are going to be discussed in the next section.…”

“…This said, we present a proposal of Language Learning Objects (LLOs) applied to the learning process of foreign/second languages (FL, L2), based on the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) (Canale & Swain, 1980;Dillenbourg, 1999). Apart from communicative approaches, the definition of LLOs will be equally guided by aspects of Pedagogical Usability (Vetromille-Castro, 2003), trying to highlight the importance of the multiplicity of options, clarity in the learning process approaches for FL/L2, and having in their background a complex perspective in the language learning process, which is seen as adaptable, non-linear, unpredictable, selforganized, dynamic, among other conditions -as Larsen-Freeman (1997) argues in Chaos/ complexity science and second language acquisition and Paiva supports in her Modelo fractal de aquisição de línguas (2005a). To answer Leffa's (2006) arguments about the theoretical support, our work intends to develop a possible solution for the creation of a communicative ontology, which will take into account communicative competence, collaboration, interaction, and autonomy.…”

“…The recognition of the importance in and influence of LOs on increasing digital FL/L2 learning motivates this study to present a definition of Language Learning Objects (LLOs) that will specially take into account the principles of CLT -Communicative Language Teaching (Canale & Swain, 1980;Ellis, 1999Ellis, , 2005, as well as Pedagogical Usability (PU) and Design Usability (DU) (Vetromille-Castro, 2003). With this, the work intends to answer the criticism on a supposed theoretical gapthe theoretical neutrality.…”