Yun-Hsuan Huang is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Applied Foreign Languages at Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science. She received her Ph.D. in Information and Learning Technology from National University of Tainan, Taiwan; ED.M. in Instructional Technology and Media from Teachers College, Columbia University, USA; and M.A. in Linguistics from Eastern Michigan University, USA. Her research interests include technology-enhanced language learning, ESP, ubiquitous learning, digital game-based learning, and creativity.
International Journal of Science and Engineering (IJSE), 2015
The emergence of motion sensing technology has brought digital revolution and affected group and ... more The emergence of motion sensing technology has brought digital revolution and affected group and human-computer interaction. Traditionally, reading guidance activities were demonstrated as either the paper-based or keyboard and mouse-based reading guidance scenario which not only could limit the actions and interactions between the teacher and students but also reduce the interest and attention of students. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to integrate the Kinect device in proposing that a motion sensing technology interaction assisted the reading guidance system to facilitate 30 elementary school students in reading guidance learning activities. Students' interest, attention, and acceptance were investigated. Moreover, this study investigated the teachers' information literacy and acceptance of applying the motion sensing technology in teaching. The findings reveal that the positive impact of motion sensing technology interaction on teaching activities leads students to enhance interest and attention while engaging in learning activities. Additionally, these teachers believed that integrating motion sensing technology into teaching and learning activities could improve student participation and teacher-student interactions. The results of the study are discussed and implications are provided.
Content-based instruction (CBI) has been widely adopted for decades. However, existing CBI models... more Content-based instruction (CBI) has been widely adopted for decades. However, existing CBI models cannot always be effectively put into practice, especially for learners of lower English proficiency in English as a foreign language (EFL) context. This study examined an animation design course adopting CBI to promote reading abilities of English majors at a technology university in Taiwan. CBI usually adds challenges in cognitive and linguistic learning, especially for English majors in computer courses. Different from other CBI courses, this course dealt with multiple situations: multi-approaches (CBI and task-based instruction); multi-skills (Flash animation software skills- various animation effects; language skills-computer vocabulary and reading comprehension); multi-level learners (various English language proficiency levels mostly low proficiency level; computer abilities; learning styles), and a large class taught by one instructor. Simply employing CBI cannot solve such complex problems. Therefore, instructional streaming video was applied as a learner-directed scaffold and a technological facilitator. A control group and an experimental group comprised 117 and 121 English majors taking this course for one semester respectively. Both groups were taught with English materials but the later were additionally provided with instructional streaming video (ISV). Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from classroom observations, interviews, exams, and semester-end questionnaires from both groups to examine whether ISV facilitated instructor teaching and student learning. Results show that the experimental group significantly performed better in reading comprehension, reading speed, acceptance, attention, and exams, as well as easing teaching difficulties. Drawn upon empirical results, a technology-assisted sheltered model was generated for EFL multi-purpose courses.
Mobile technology has rapidly made digital games a popular entertainment to this digital generati... more Mobile technology has rapidly made digital games a popular entertainment to this digital generation, and thus digital game design received considerable attention in both the game industry and design education. Digital game design involves diverse dimensions in which digital game story design (DGSD) particularly attracts our interest, as the literature needs more information,especially the creativity assessment of DGSD. Existing measuring tools do not adequately address the characteristics of game-story duality. Thus, an analytic creativity assessment scale of DGSD (CAS-DGSD) based on literature and original ideas was developed in our previous work. This study aims to statistically examine its construct validity, internal consistency reliability, and interrater reliability to verify its effectiveness. Three commercial games of 3 different game genres (action, puzzle, and role-play) were rated by 32 student raters and 4 expert raters. Statistical results show acceptable construct validity, internal consistency reliability, and interrater reliability of the CAS-DGSD. The CAS-DGSD not only helps evaluators like teachers identify which aspects of DGSD are short of creativity,but also serves as a guideline for digital game story designers like design students and product developers to tailor creative and entertaining game stories.
The 2019 CNU International Conference on English Teaching and Learning, Tainan, Taiwan., 2019
The aim of this study is to explore EFL English majors' motivation towards second foreign-languag... more The aim of this study is to explore EFL English majors' motivation towards second foreign-language learning. The participants comprised 83 EFL English majors who took one or two second foreign-language courses (Japanese and French) offered at the department of applied foreign languages of a university in Taiwan. A survey was conducted to investigate the participants' motivation types and reasons. Results show that 22% (Japanese) and 30% (French) of one second-foreign language course takers were integratively motivated respectively. However, 29% (Japanese) and 12% (French) of them were instrumentally motivated respectively. In terms of integrative motivation, both Japanese and French attracted similar numbers of the students. In terms of instrumental motivation, the number of the students interested in Japanese doubled that of the students interested in French. The students who possessed blended types of motivation towards Japanese were 4%, compared with 1% in French. Only 1% of them were respectively identified no specific motivation towards Japanese and French. As for two second-foreign language course takers, 4% of the students were integratively-motivated towards Japanese; none, French. Towards Japanese, 2% of them were instrumentally-motivated; 1%, French. Such results were analyzed from the perspectives of culture, society, and work market. These findings provide some implications to language instructors and language program planners. Understanding motivation backgrounds can better plan second foreign-language courses in the language program as well as adopting useful language mateirals and activities in the course. Ultimately, learners can achieve individual goals in second foreign-language learning.
The 20th International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE 2012), Singapore, Singapore., 2012
This assessment design examines the deficiencies and flaws of existing
creativity measures for di... more This assessment design examines the deficiencies and flaws of existing creativity measures for digital game story design. Instead of using holistic scoring simply overlooking an overall story, a two-dimensional analytic approach to creativity assessment which combines distinct game story constructs with six types of creativity indicators is proposed. Besides, creativity descriptors commonly used by educators in scoring rubrics are also been characterized to correspond to the categories of creativity indicators. This creativity assessment not only helps evaluators like teachers measure digital game story creativity, understands which aspects of the digital game story are short of creativity, but also prompts digital game story designers
The Fifth International Conference on Educational Innovation through Technology (EITT 2016), Tainan, Taiwan., 2016
Game-based learning can not only lead to learning through the virtual game world but also trigger... more Game-based learning can not only lead to learning through the virtual game world but also trigger learner motives via planned gaming processes. Supplemented game-based learning activities not only allow learners to practice repeatedly but also entail them to reach learning objectives. This study aimed to utilize flipped classroom with digital game-based learning activities in elementary school students’ English learning. The study investigated the effects of English learning, and the motivation of the experimental group in attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. Results indicate that there were no significant differences between the experimental and control groups. However, the experimental group did show large improvement in learning achievements after game-based flipped learning activities. By looking at the conscious reaction of experimental group toward the flipped classroom with game-based learning, in addition, the research found that participants believed the method could trigger their interest and curiosity in learning, and that the games prepared them for successive learning materials. Moreover, results also show that the game-based learning process could promote their sense of accomplishment in learning, thus encouraging them to continue learning.
The 4th IEEE International Conference on Digital Games and Intelligent Toy Enhanced Learning, Takamatsu, Japan., 2012
Digital game-based learning (DGBL) has successfully brought traditional game-based learning (GBL)... more Digital game-based learning (DGBL) has successfully brought traditional game-based learning (GBL) into a new horizon due to its multimedia features, high interactivity, immediate and various feedbacks, authentic and vicarious contexts, etc. As a result, PC-based DGBL has been prevalent in the past decade. In terms of socio-cultural theory, however, PC-based DGBL has some drawbacks in nature to effectively create social interactions among learners in the classroom. The dynamics of DGBL in the classroom setting mainly relies upon learners’ fervent interactions to stimulate cooperation, collaboration, problem-solving, communication, and competition in the game context. The characteristics of interactive whiteboard (IWB) exactly solve the issue of adopting DGBL in the classroom. Therefore, IWB-based DGBL has been increasingly applied in the classroom setting in recent years. Nevertheless, not all instructors can put them into effective practice. Without effective teachers carefully planning curricula and conducting classroom activities, any fantastic tools and materials can become just fancy artifacts. Hence, this study aims to tackle these problems, particularly for EFL preschoolers, by proposing a model of IWB-based DGBL instructional activities based upon Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach, and suggesting several principles of implementing this model for EFL preschool teachers.
The 8th International Workshop on Learning Technology for Education Challenges, Zamora, Spain., 2019
Authentic language materials are always considered ideal language acquisition resources. Today's ... more Authentic language materials are always considered ideal language acquisition resources. Today's generation lives with the Internet, surfing over Internet resources every day. Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 provide authentic and learner-directed resources and platforms with accessible and ubiquitous features, which greatly benefits English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners living in non-English speaking countries. Despite abundant English resources available, most EFL learners usually still rely on the Internet resources of their first language. Therefore, this study aimed to devise a course adopting an immersive approach guiding students to live in an authentic English Internet life as native speakers do, thereby promoting EFL acquisition in real life. This study involved 62 college students around low intermediate levels in Taiwan, simulating a realistic English Internet life. Nine theme-based Internet resources were selected and task-based learning was employed. A survey was conducted at class end. Results show that four out of the five thematic websites considered the easiest to navigate and comprehend were presented via Web 1.0. Regarding the top five thematic websites that the students reported to browse after taking this course were related to recreation (music, movie, and travel), living consumption (shopping), and online community interaction (social media). Usefulness and interest are two major reasons motivating them to browse English websites. 61.3% and 38.7% of the students reported that they would "Strongly recommend" and "Recommend" this course respectively, demonstrating the effectiveness of the course. Qualitative results and implications were elaborated in the study.
The XIXth International CALL Research Conference, Bruges, Belgium., 2018
Through flipping the traditional top-down material development planned by the teacher or publishe... more Through flipping the traditional top-down material development planned by the teacher or publisher into the bottom-up material development planned by the learner, this study devised a task design activity asking 64 pharmacy students using online advertisements as references to design health or treatment related advertisements for their school. This task-based learning involved three stages: teacher-guided, learner-directed, and peer learning. Qualitative data from the advertisement texts created by the pharmacy students were collected in order to analyze which kinds of health or treatment related themes that the pharmacy students were interested in and which kinds of health or treatment related vocabulary and terms they selected and applied. This task design activity allowed the students to be autonomous and self-directed in the process, making open, accessible, and domain-specific Internet resources to be personalized materials-valuable information for the teacher and publisher in future material development. In addition, online advertisements can effectively serve as open and authentic materials as well as technical writing assistance for ESP learner-directed learning. Paper
The XVIIIth International CALL Research Conference, Berkeley, USA., 2017
This study aimed to devise touch-screen materials and activities for an ESP course (English for I... more This study aimed to devise touch-screen materials and activities for an ESP course (English for Information Technology) offered for Information and Multimedia majors at a Taiwan’s university in order to solve the classroom problem of smartphone abuses. The study proposed a framework of touch-screen ESP courseware in which a fundamental ESP curriculum involves course information, ESP materials, professional culture knowledge of the career area, and interaction. These four parts were carried out in four individual sections designed in the courseware: course information, ESP materials, in-class peer interaction, and out-of-class peer interaction. Based on the framework and applying ubiquitous-learning features of smartphone technology, this study employed a free web builder providing both layouts compatible with the interfaces of desktops and smartphones, instead of using apps design software requiring fees and compatible only with either IOS or Android. Additionally, the study discussed the principles of instructional design in terms of 4-WHs: What components can be included into touch-screen materials and activities, when they are used, where they are taken place, and how they are carried out. The impact of context on this study has been that whiteboard- or projected screen-delivered materials and course activities in the ESP class have been drastically losing attractions for smartphone-addicted students. Such an impact of the smartphone-dominated classroom context has seriously challenged teaching activities and classroom interactions, significantly lowering teaching effectiveness. Traditional curriculum design and instructional technology can no longer tackle such a classroom context. Since there is no way against smartphone technology in class, a practical solution is finding a possible place for it in the context, taking advantage of it, and teaching with it. The touch-screen ESP courseware design of the study was thus shaped by turning the smartphone into a constructivist learning tool to flip the negative impact of context into the positive one. To flip the smartphone-dominated classroom, this study integrated the smartphone into learning, transforming the role of the distracting smartphone into a learning focus and a learner-directed tool. Students self-construct their own learning process using the smartphone to interact with touch-screen materials at their own pace, synchronously evaluate peer presentations, synchronously or asynchronously post group topic discussions, etc. The flipped smartphone can accordingly facilitate constructivist and personalized learning to an optimal extent, as it is most learner-friendly ever for constructivist learning, drawing the phubber to a leading role. Follow-up research will experiment the devised touch-screen courseware to examine its effectiveness.
The 18th International Conference on Applied Linguistics and Teaching Foreign Languages, 2016
Many ESP textbooks are distributed globally as the content development is often obliged to compro... more Many ESP textbooks are distributed globally as the content development is often obliged to compromises between commercial and pedagogical demands. Therefore, the issue of regional application and usefulness of globally published ESP textbooks has received much debate. For ESP instructors, textbook selection is definitely a priority consideration for curriculum design. An appropriate ESP textbook can facilitate teaching and learning, while an inappropriate one may cause a disaster for both teachers and students. This study aims to investigate the regional application and usefulness of an ESP textbook for information technology (IT). Participants were 51 sophomores who majored in Applied Informatics and Multimedia at a university in Taiwan. As they were not English majors, their English proficiency was mostly at elementary and elementary-to-intermediate levels. This course was offered for two semesters. The textbook selected was Oxford English for Information Technology. At class end, the students were required to complete a survey which comprised five choices of Very Easy, Easy, Neutral, Difficult, and Very Difficult for each item. Based on the content design of the textbook, the survey investigated how the students viewed the difficulty of grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and writing materials of the textbook. In terms of difficulty, results reveal that only 22% of them found the grammar section difficult and very difficult. For listening, 71% responded difficult and very difficult. For general reading, 55% responded difficult and very difficult. For speaking, 56% responded difficult and very difficult. For writing, 78% responded difficult and very difficult. For advanced reading, 90% reported difficult and very difficult. These results indicate that, except the grammar section, more than half of the students found the textbook contents difficult in terms of listening, speaking, reading, writing materials. Such contradictory results between the easy grammar section and the difficult four language skills sections imply that the textbook designers do not well understand the English learning background of regional ESP learners. For the participants, the learning contents of the grammar section were the general grammar level of junior high school, while the learning contents of the four language skills sections were more of the levels of college English majors. Some implications from the findings are obtained for instructors and textbook designers. First of all, existing ESP textbooks for IT are few and thus textbook selections for instructors are insufficient. Second, existing globally published textbooks for IT cannot be applied to learners of all English proficiency levels, especially the low level. With limited textbook selections, third, instructors should modify the selected textbook contents or supplement extra ESP materials to meet the proficiency level of target learners. Fourth, local ESP publishers should collaborate with local ESP instructors who understand best the learning background of their students in order to develop appropriate ESP textbooks for local learners. Even though the instructor reduced learning contents and simplified tests in curriculum design, in conclusion, the students still found difficult. This implies that in addition to the instructor’s professional experience, there is a need to understand the usefulness of the textbook from learner perspectives.
International Journal of Science and Engineering (IJSE), 2015
The emergence of motion sensing technology has brought digital revolution and affected group and ... more The emergence of motion sensing technology has brought digital revolution and affected group and human-computer interaction. Traditionally, reading guidance activities were demonstrated as either the paper-based or keyboard and mouse-based reading guidance scenario which not only could limit the actions and interactions between the teacher and students but also reduce the interest and attention of students. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to integrate the Kinect device in proposing that a motion sensing technology interaction assisted the reading guidance system to facilitate 30 elementary school students in reading guidance learning activities. Students' interest, attention, and acceptance were investigated. Moreover, this study investigated the teachers' information literacy and acceptance of applying the motion sensing technology in teaching. The findings reveal that the positive impact of motion sensing technology interaction on teaching activities leads students to enhance interest and attention while engaging in learning activities. Additionally, these teachers believed that integrating motion sensing technology into teaching and learning activities could improve student participation and teacher-student interactions. The results of the study are discussed and implications are provided.
Content-based instruction (CBI) has been widely adopted for decades. However, existing CBI models... more Content-based instruction (CBI) has been widely adopted for decades. However, existing CBI models cannot always be effectively put into practice, especially for learners of lower English proficiency in English as a foreign language (EFL) context. This study examined an animation design course adopting CBI to promote reading abilities of English majors at a technology university in Taiwan. CBI usually adds challenges in cognitive and linguistic learning, especially for English majors in computer courses. Different from other CBI courses, this course dealt with multiple situations: multi-approaches (CBI and task-based instruction); multi-skills (Flash animation software skills- various animation effects; language skills-computer vocabulary and reading comprehension); multi-level learners (various English language proficiency levels mostly low proficiency level; computer abilities; learning styles), and a large class taught by one instructor. Simply employing CBI cannot solve such complex problems. Therefore, instructional streaming video was applied as a learner-directed scaffold and a technological facilitator. A control group and an experimental group comprised 117 and 121 English majors taking this course for one semester respectively. Both groups were taught with English materials but the later were additionally provided with instructional streaming video (ISV). Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from classroom observations, interviews, exams, and semester-end questionnaires from both groups to examine whether ISV facilitated instructor teaching and student learning. Results show that the experimental group significantly performed better in reading comprehension, reading speed, acceptance, attention, and exams, as well as easing teaching difficulties. Drawn upon empirical results, a technology-assisted sheltered model was generated for EFL multi-purpose courses.
Mobile technology has rapidly made digital games a popular entertainment to this digital generati... more Mobile technology has rapidly made digital games a popular entertainment to this digital generation, and thus digital game design received considerable attention in both the game industry and design education. Digital game design involves diverse dimensions in which digital game story design (DGSD) particularly attracts our interest, as the literature needs more information,especially the creativity assessment of DGSD. Existing measuring tools do not adequately address the characteristics of game-story duality. Thus, an analytic creativity assessment scale of DGSD (CAS-DGSD) based on literature and original ideas was developed in our previous work. This study aims to statistically examine its construct validity, internal consistency reliability, and interrater reliability to verify its effectiveness. Three commercial games of 3 different game genres (action, puzzle, and role-play) were rated by 32 student raters and 4 expert raters. Statistical results show acceptable construct validity, internal consistency reliability, and interrater reliability of the CAS-DGSD. The CAS-DGSD not only helps evaluators like teachers identify which aspects of DGSD are short of creativity,but also serves as a guideline for digital game story designers like design students and product developers to tailor creative and entertaining game stories.
The 2019 CNU International Conference on English Teaching and Learning, Tainan, Taiwan., 2019
The aim of this study is to explore EFL English majors' motivation towards second foreign-languag... more The aim of this study is to explore EFL English majors' motivation towards second foreign-language learning. The participants comprised 83 EFL English majors who took one or two second foreign-language courses (Japanese and French) offered at the department of applied foreign languages of a university in Taiwan. A survey was conducted to investigate the participants' motivation types and reasons. Results show that 22% (Japanese) and 30% (French) of one second-foreign language course takers were integratively motivated respectively. However, 29% (Japanese) and 12% (French) of them were instrumentally motivated respectively. In terms of integrative motivation, both Japanese and French attracted similar numbers of the students. In terms of instrumental motivation, the number of the students interested in Japanese doubled that of the students interested in French. The students who possessed blended types of motivation towards Japanese were 4%, compared with 1% in French. Only 1% of them were respectively identified no specific motivation towards Japanese and French. As for two second-foreign language course takers, 4% of the students were integratively-motivated towards Japanese; none, French. Towards Japanese, 2% of them were instrumentally-motivated; 1%, French. Such results were analyzed from the perspectives of culture, society, and work market. These findings provide some implications to language instructors and language program planners. Understanding motivation backgrounds can better plan second foreign-language courses in the language program as well as adopting useful language mateirals and activities in the course. Ultimately, learners can achieve individual goals in second foreign-language learning.
The 20th International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE 2012), Singapore, Singapore., 2012
This assessment design examines the deficiencies and flaws of existing
creativity measures for di... more This assessment design examines the deficiencies and flaws of existing creativity measures for digital game story design. Instead of using holistic scoring simply overlooking an overall story, a two-dimensional analytic approach to creativity assessment which combines distinct game story constructs with six types of creativity indicators is proposed. Besides, creativity descriptors commonly used by educators in scoring rubrics are also been characterized to correspond to the categories of creativity indicators. This creativity assessment not only helps evaluators like teachers measure digital game story creativity, understands which aspects of the digital game story are short of creativity, but also prompts digital game story designers
The Fifth International Conference on Educational Innovation through Technology (EITT 2016), Tainan, Taiwan., 2016
Game-based learning can not only lead to learning through the virtual game world but also trigger... more Game-based learning can not only lead to learning through the virtual game world but also trigger learner motives via planned gaming processes. Supplemented game-based learning activities not only allow learners to practice repeatedly but also entail them to reach learning objectives. This study aimed to utilize flipped classroom with digital game-based learning activities in elementary school students’ English learning. The study investigated the effects of English learning, and the motivation of the experimental group in attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. Results indicate that there were no significant differences between the experimental and control groups. However, the experimental group did show large improvement in learning achievements after game-based flipped learning activities. By looking at the conscious reaction of experimental group toward the flipped classroom with game-based learning, in addition, the research found that participants believed the method could trigger their interest and curiosity in learning, and that the games prepared them for successive learning materials. Moreover, results also show that the game-based learning process could promote their sense of accomplishment in learning, thus encouraging them to continue learning.
The 4th IEEE International Conference on Digital Games and Intelligent Toy Enhanced Learning, Takamatsu, Japan., 2012
Digital game-based learning (DGBL) has successfully brought traditional game-based learning (GBL)... more Digital game-based learning (DGBL) has successfully brought traditional game-based learning (GBL) into a new horizon due to its multimedia features, high interactivity, immediate and various feedbacks, authentic and vicarious contexts, etc. As a result, PC-based DGBL has been prevalent in the past decade. In terms of socio-cultural theory, however, PC-based DGBL has some drawbacks in nature to effectively create social interactions among learners in the classroom. The dynamics of DGBL in the classroom setting mainly relies upon learners’ fervent interactions to stimulate cooperation, collaboration, problem-solving, communication, and competition in the game context. The characteristics of interactive whiteboard (IWB) exactly solve the issue of adopting DGBL in the classroom. Therefore, IWB-based DGBL has been increasingly applied in the classroom setting in recent years. Nevertheless, not all instructors can put them into effective practice. Without effective teachers carefully planning curricula and conducting classroom activities, any fantastic tools and materials can become just fancy artifacts. Hence, this study aims to tackle these problems, particularly for EFL preschoolers, by proposing a model of IWB-based DGBL instructional activities based upon Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach, and suggesting several principles of implementing this model for EFL preschool teachers.
The 8th International Workshop on Learning Technology for Education Challenges, Zamora, Spain., 2019
Authentic language materials are always considered ideal language acquisition resources. Today's ... more Authentic language materials are always considered ideal language acquisition resources. Today's generation lives with the Internet, surfing over Internet resources every day. Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 provide authentic and learner-directed resources and platforms with accessible and ubiquitous features, which greatly benefits English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners living in non-English speaking countries. Despite abundant English resources available, most EFL learners usually still rely on the Internet resources of their first language. Therefore, this study aimed to devise a course adopting an immersive approach guiding students to live in an authentic English Internet life as native speakers do, thereby promoting EFL acquisition in real life. This study involved 62 college students around low intermediate levels in Taiwan, simulating a realistic English Internet life. Nine theme-based Internet resources were selected and task-based learning was employed. A survey was conducted at class end. Results show that four out of the five thematic websites considered the easiest to navigate and comprehend were presented via Web 1.0. Regarding the top five thematic websites that the students reported to browse after taking this course were related to recreation (music, movie, and travel), living consumption (shopping), and online community interaction (social media). Usefulness and interest are two major reasons motivating them to browse English websites. 61.3% and 38.7% of the students reported that they would "Strongly recommend" and "Recommend" this course respectively, demonstrating the effectiveness of the course. Qualitative results and implications were elaborated in the study.
The XIXth International CALL Research Conference, Bruges, Belgium., 2018
Through flipping the traditional top-down material development planned by the teacher or publishe... more Through flipping the traditional top-down material development planned by the teacher or publisher into the bottom-up material development planned by the learner, this study devised a task design activity asking 64 pharmacy students using online advertisements as references to design health or treatment related advertisements for their school. This task-based learning involved three stages: teacher-guided, learner-directed, and peer learning. Qualitative data from the advertisement texts created by the pharmacy students were collected in order to analyze which kinds of health or treatment related themes that the pharmacy students were interested in and which kinds of health or treatment related vocabulary and terms they selected and applied. This task design activity allowed the students to be autonomous and self-directed in the process, making open, accessible, and domain-specific Internet resources to be personalized materials-valuable information for the teacher and publisher in future material development. In addition, online advertisements can effectively serve as open and authentic materials as well as technical writing assistance for ESP learner-directed learning. Paper
The XVIIIth International CALL Research Conference, Berkeley, USA., 2017
This study aimed to devise touch-screen materials and activities for an ESP course (English for I... more This study aimed to devise touch-screen materials and activities for an ESP course (English for Information Technology) offered for Information and Multimedia majors at a Taiwan’s university in order to solve the classroom problem of smartphone abuses. The study proposed a framework of touch-screen ESP courseware in which a fundamental ESP curriculum involves course information, ESP materials, professional culture knowledge of the career area, and interaction. These four parts were carried out in four individual sections designed in the courseware: course information, ESP materials, in-class peer interaction, and out-of-class peer interaction. Based on the framework and applying ubiquitous-learning features of smartphone technology, this study employed a free web builder providing both layouts compatible with the interfaces of desktops and smartphones, instead of using apps design software requiring fees and compatible only with either IOS or Android. Additionally, the study discussed the principles of instructional design in terms of 4-WHs: What components can be included into touch-screen materials and activities, when they are used, where they are taken place, and how they are carried out. The impact of context on this study has been that whiteboard- or projected screen-delivered materials and course activities in the ESP class have been drastically losing attractions for smartphone-addicted students. Such an impact of the smartphone-dominated classroom context has seriously challenged teaching activities and classroom interactions, significantly lowering teaching effectiveness. Traditional curriculum design and instructional technology can no longer tackle such a classroom context. Since there is no way against smartphone technology in class, a practical solution is finding a possible place for it in the context, taking advantage of it, and teaching with it. The touch-screen ESP courseware design of the study was thus shaped by turning the smartphone into a constructivist learning tool to flip the negative impact of context into the positive one. To flip the smartphone-dominated classroom, this study integrated the smartphone into learning, transforming the role of the distracting smartphone into a learning focus and a learner-directed tool. Students self-construct their own learning process using the smartphone to interact with touch-screen materials at their own pace, synchronously evaluate peer presentations, synchronously or asynchronously post group topic discussions, etc. The flipped smartphone can accordingly facilitate constructivist and personalized learning to an optimal extent, as it is most learner-friendly ever for constructivist learning, drawing the phubber to a leading role. Follow-up research will experiment the devised touch-screen courseware to examine its effectiveness.
The 18th International Conference on Applied Linguistics and Teaching Foreign Languages, 2016
Many ESP textbooks are distributed globally as the content development is often obliged to compro... more Many ESP textbooks are distributed globally as the content development is often obliged to compromises between commercial and pedagogical demands. Therefore, the issue of regional application and usefulness of globally published ESP textbooks has received much debate. For ESP instructors, textbook selection is definitely a priority consideration for curriculum design. An appropriate ESP textbook can facilitate teaching and learning, while an inappropriate one may cause a disaster for both teachers and students. This study aims to investigate the regional application and usefulness of an ESP textbook for information technology (IT). Participants were 51 sophomores who majored in Applied Informatics and Multimedia at a university in Taiwan. As they were not English majors, their English proficiency was mostly at elementary and elementary-to-intermediate levels. This course was offered for two semesters. The textbook selected was Oxford English for Information Technology. At class end, the students were required to complete a survey which comprised five choices of Very Easy, Easy, Neutral, Difficult, and Very Difficult for each item. Based on the content design of the textbook, the survey investigated how the students viewed the difficulty of grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and writing materials of the textbook. In terms of difficulty, results reveal that only 22% of them found the grammar section difficult and very difficult. For listening, 71% responded difficult and very difficult. For general reading, 55% responded difficult and very difficult. For speaking, 56% responded difficult and very difficult. For writing, 78% responded difficult and very difficult. For advanced reading, 90% reported difficult and very difficult. These results indicate that, except the grammar section, more than half of the students found the textbook contents difficult in terms of listening, speaking, reading, writing materials. Such contradictory results between the easy grammar section and the difficult four language skills sections imply that the textbook designers do not well understand the English learning background of regional ESP learners. For the participants, the learning contents of the grammar section were the general grammar level of junior high school, while the learning contents of the four language skills sections were more of the levels of college English majors. Some implications from the findings are obtained for instructors and textbook designers. First of all, existing ESP textbooks for IT are few and thus textbook selections for instructors are insufficient. Second, existing globally published textbooks for IT cannot be applied to learners of all English proficiency levels, especially the low level. With limited textbook selections, third, instructors should modify the selected textbook contents or supplement extra ESP materials to meet the proficiency level of target learners. Fourth, local ESP publishers should collaborate with local ESP instructors who understand best the learning background of their students in order to develop appropriate ESP textbooks for local learners. Even though the instructor reduced learning contents and simplified tests in curriculum design, in conclusion, the students still found difficult. This implies that in addition to the instructor’s professional experience, there is a need to understand the usefulness of the textbook from learner perspectives.
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creativity measures for digital game story design. Instead of using holistic scoring simply overlooking an overall story, a two-dimensional analytic approach to creativity assessment which combines distinct game story constructs with six types of creativity indicators is proposed. Besides, creativity descriptors commonly used by educators in
scoring rubrics are also been characterized to correspond to the categories of creativity indicators. This creativity assessment not only helps evaluators like teachers measure digital game story creativity, understands which aspects of the digital game story are short
of creativity, but also prompts digital game story designers
creativity measures for digital game story design. Instead of using holistic scoring simply overlooking an overall story, a two-dimensional analytic approach to creativity assessment which combines distinct game story constructs with six types of creativity indicators is proposed. Besides, creativity descriptors commonly used by educators in
scoring rubrics are also been characterized to correspond to the categories of creativity indicators. This creativity assessment not only helps evaluators like teachers measure digital game story creativity, understands which aspects of the digital game story are short
of creativity, but also prompts digital game story designers