Creating Constructivist Learning Environment for Japanese EFL Students: A Digital Story Program
Creating Constructivist Learning Environment for Japanese EFL Students: A Digital Story Program
Keywords: Constructivist multimedia learning environment, Digital stories and language instruction
Guofang Wan
Ohio University, USA
Rex Tanimoto
Osaka Gakuin University,Japan
Rosalyn Anstine Templeton
Marshall University, West Virginia, USA
Bio Data
Guofang Wan received her Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University. Currently she teaches both graduate and undergraduate majors at Ohio University, USA. She has a long-term passion for exploring effective ways of language instruction, and using technology and storytelling to enhance language instruction in Asian countries. Her book Media-Savvy Student was published in 2004.
Rex Tanimoto teaches EFL at Osaka Gakuin University, Osaka, Japan. His interests are creating and producing narrative-based learning activities through digital visual and audio formats and techniques. His latest book, New Storyteller, was published by Macmillan Language House, 2006).
Dr. Rosalyn Anstine Templeton is Executive Dean and Professor of Education in the College of Education and Human Services at Marshall University, West Virginia, USA. She is an expert in special education including and teaching ESL students in regular classrooms.
This study assesses the effectiveness of FM Magic, a web-based multimedia English program that teaches EFL in a Japanese university. It uses the Constructivist Multimedia Learning Environment Survey (CMLES) and a Student Open-ended Questionnaire. Results indicate that FM Magic creates a positive learning environment for these EFL students. It is different from the teacher-centered and grammar-translation approaches of language instruction. The study also suggests some ideas to refine FM Magic and further bring it into closer alignment with the constructivist approach for language instruction.
See page 31-50
[/private]Category: Main Editions, Volume 10 Issue 2
